Clean White Beautiful
by Lar-lar
Summary: South Park without the snow would be a horrible, filthy place indeed... Craig/Tweek, rated for language, violence and slash in later chapters. UPDATED TO CHAPTER EIGHT - EXTREME SAP ALERT!
1. Prologue

**Clean. White. Beautiful. By Lar-lar**

**Author notes: **Wow, okay! It's been a while, huh? I've not been active over here AT ALL but since getting back into the South Park fandom big-style, I've been here reading and reviewing and figured that since I AM still writing, I may as well post as well. This is my first attempt at a multi-chaptered South Park fic so... Be nice And encourage me! I REALLY wanna finish this one. The formatting FAILS, I don't remember how to make stuff look good on here anymore.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own South Park or any of its characters.

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_Yeah I know it hurts, yeah I know you're scared. _

_Walking down the road that leads to who knows where._

_Don't you hang your head, don't you give up yet. _

_When courage starts to disappear, I will be right here._

_I Will Carry You by Clay Aiken._

_---------------------------------_

**Prologue;**

The dark-haired teen stood in his back yard, eyes to the sky, watching the snow fall. _Like being in a snow-globe,_ he thought, a smile crossing his face as he did so. Snow never fell in a straight line, it almost floated down, swaying and twirling, dancing to the music the wind played but so few people bothered to listen to anymore.

Craig still listened. He heard.

He had always liked that about snow – the way it would fall from above, like a beautiful gift, and wipe everything clean. How it would "cover the sin". He did not think South Park would be the same without the snow, it hid the dirtiness, covered the lies. South Park without the snow would be a horrible, filthy place indeed.

He sighed and then winced, the movement of facial muscles stinging, hand shooting up to his swollen eye. _Yep, that was going to look pretty damn impressive in the morning…_Not that he cared. It was either him or her and he would have to be dead and damned to Hell for eternity before they lay a finger on her…

He shivered, pulling his arms around himself for warmth. He did not know why he was standing out in a late-night snowfall wearing only pyjamas anymore – just that it had seemed like the only thing he could have done at the time. The snow wiped everything clean, did it not? That was what he had really wanted – to have it all wiped away, to feel clean again…

A tear ran down his cheek.

"Craig?" A small voice asked from the open door, the head of a younger girl following it, her eyes going wide when she saw that yes, her brother was indeed standing out in the snow. She ran out to him without a second thought. "What are you doing out here? You'll catch Pneumonia, you idiot!" She scolded, worry apparent in her eyes when Craig finally did turn to meet her gaze, that only caused her to gasp, hands shooting up to cover her mouth, eyes welling with tears. "Did she…?" The older teen shook his head, forcing a smile. What good was it to protect someone if it was only going to make them sad?

"Didn't I tell you to stay upstairs?" He told her, trying to sound annoyed but far too tired to pull off the tone well. He stood still while she reached up a hand to touch the bruised eye, causing him to wince at the contact and her in turn to throw herself at him, hugging him tightly. "It's alright, don't worry about it." He whispered, hugging her back, wishing there was more he could do for her but failing to think of a single thing as they stood in the snow on a dark October night, the only two in the house.

They might as well have been the only two in the world.


	2. Chapter one

**Author notes –** I don't think I need to put the title and disclaimer over and over so you just get notes from here on out. Lucky you! XD Sorry this has taken me so long to get up, I started this when I first got into the fandom again and my original ideas have changed a lot since then so I had to do the whole editing thing and I HATE that like you wouldn't believe. To everyone who has reviewed so far, thank you so much for your encouragement and I'm extra sorry to you all for keeping you waiting – I have more of a plan as to where this is going now so I'm hoping it won't happen again. Enjoy!

**Chapter One;**

Craig did not take the bus to school, had not since his years at South Park Elementary, he preferred walking, he could be a little early or a little late that way, the flexibility suited him better and the extra exercise was good for him too, he decided. His sister walked with him on the years they found themselves going to the same building as they did for this, Craig's senior year.

Neither of them said much, Ruby glanced over to her big brother every now-and-again, worry etched across her face, wanting to ask if he was okay but knowing he would say he was even though she knew he was not.

That was how he was though – indestructible.

Only not the Craig she knew. Not always.

At school he seemed like a different person, she rarely talked to him during school hours and all her friends were a little afraid of him and the way he scowled about the place, flipping people off and yelling at them in colourful language they only used and were yet to learn the meaning of. She could understand, she supposed, but she knew better. She saw him cry himself to sleep at night and talk about the 'waking dream' and his best friend, Tweek.

She smiled a little at that, the memory lightening her mood somewhat. Craig seemed to smile more when he talked about Tweek - Ruby had met him only a handful of times, normally when the two were hanging out and Craig dropped everything to pick her up from a friends' place or dance class and dragged the skittish blonde along for the ride. He did not really say much, and said even less to her, but he seemed nice enough and if having him around made her brother happy, she did not care if he kept a pet alligator and collected snails in a bottle for fun.

She got the impression that either of those would scare him too much, though.

Eventually, as they reached the main school gates, she turned to him, grabbing him by the sleeve of his coat and bringing him to a stop.

"What is it, Ruby?" He asked, tone concerned as he looked down to her, that worry still plain to see. "You forget something at home? Need me to walk back with you?" She shook her head, briefly touching on the idea that Craig still treated her like she was four, not nearly fourteen, and tried to decide if that should annoy her or not.

"Be careful, okay?" She said at last, letting go of his coat and sighing as his frown intensified at her words. "I worry about you too, you know. I don't want you getting hurt or anything, I don't know what I'd do if you weren't around anymore, Craig. Please, promise me…" Craig blinked at her as she hung her head, sniffing back tears, and for once he did not have to think twice about his reputation or who would see before engulfing her in a hug.

"It's okay, I'm not going anywhere, not without you." He promised, meaning every word. "I'll be careful and look out for both of us, alright? Just like always, I promise." He let her go and smiled down at her, ruffling her long, red hair as he always did to make her smile. "I'll meet you after school and we can walk back together, okay?" She nodded, smiling too now. "Don't learn anything I wouldn't learn, deal?" That got the smile upgraded to a laugh and Craig grinned, pleased with his work.

"See you later." She called to him, having spotted a group of her own friends near the other entrance and running to meet them as he lifted his hand in a quick wave before turning back to his own path, smile almost instantly falling from him as he made his way up the steps and inside the school to the sound of the bell.

The locker area always filled radically as the bell tolled but Craig was let through easily - a well placed glare here, a muttered curse there - being an asshole had its' perks, even if it was largely for show.

"Hello Craig!" Butters' stupidly optimistic and cheerful voice rung out, causing the object of its direction to bring his head sharply into contact with his locker. He was so not in the mood to deal with this particular irritant today…

"Butters." He replied, as politely as his mood would allow, turning to face the blonde and right away wishing he had not.

"Wow, Craig! What happened to your eye?" Butters asked, his own eyes wide and obviously concerned. "Did you get in a fight, huh? I bet you did, you're always getting into fights, aren't you, Craig? Yeah, I'll bet…" The dark-haired teen glared angrily at the other, hands forming fists at his side. Was it just for show again? He had trouble telling himself these days… He reached out and grabbed his victim by the shirt, a slowly gathering crowd offering their own varied opinions of the situation as he slammed the unfortunate teen against his locker angrily.

"Unless you'd like a pair of them, I'd shut your food-hole, Fucktard." He advised, tone of voice eerily calm, making it all the more threatening. _Throw in a very fake smile, and_ "Sound like a plan?" The other teen nodded, shaking almost visibly, as Craig let go and took a step back allowing a swift exit and earning various mutters of disappointment from his audience as they reluctantly went on their way. All except for the single crazy-haired blonde who pushed his way to the front, questioning expression on his face and not a hint of fear that he might end the same way.

"Craig!" He called as he moved, "Craig, Jesus! What did you do to Butters?" He asked, almost demanded, and the taller teen just stared blankly – Tweek Tweak, for some reason, could always manage to stop him in his tracks. It pissed him off, he could feel his hands forming fists again, but with no intension to hit this time, not Tweek. Not his best friend. "Craig…" The blonde moaned.

"He pissed me off." He answered, moving back to his locker, sparing a glare to those few who had stayed around hoping for a re-match with the second blonde.

"What's new there?" Tweek asked lightly, smiling very slightly as he spoke, clutching his books and papers close to his chest in a death-grip. "What'd he say this time?" Craig would have tried a glare there, only they did not work on Tweek. He did not know why, almost everything else was sure to set the twitchy, caffeine addict off on some crazy rant or another but Craig? Nope, Tweek had no fear for him. It both pleased and annoyed him.

"He was asking about my eye." He said, retrieving his books and slamming his locker before turning so Tweek could see what he meant. The shorter teen's eyes went wide.

"Jesus Christ!" He exclaimed. "What happened?" Craig shrugged, nudging the other teen into moving towards their first class of the day – English. He had no intension of telling that fag-asshole Butters what had happened, but Tweek knew a little more than most about things.

"Mom." He said, voice quieter than normal, looking straight ahead of him but catching the expression of surprise in Tweek's eyes from the corner of his own. "Ruby was late home, her bike got stolen and she had to walk. Mom got mad." He shrugged and Tweek nodded, understanding in a way he was not sure of.

"Jesus..." He said again, somewhat nervously. Sure, Craig had told him about the situation at home, not by choice, he could not help but think; He had stayed over his best friends' house, just one time, and the other teen had warned him of what he simply said was 'the way things are'. It had made Tweek feel a little sad, but sort of special too. Craig shrugged again, as if that was unimportant.

"Shit happens." He replied, and if Tweek did not know better, he would have said the taller teen was unaffected by this turn of events. He knew though and he worried. "I've got it under control, Blondie, you don't need to worry." He added, Tweek not believing that for a second but even if he was not scared of Craig, something about having his eyes stare straight into his own made it impossible for him not to nod along.

As they reached the classroom, Craig paused, grabbing Tweek by the arm, making him jump to a stop as he turned, once again eyes wide. "If anyone asks, it was three on one and I still beat 'em, alright?" The blonde simply blinked at his friend for a moment, uncomprehending, and then nodded slowly. The look in Craig's eyes, not a pleading as such, Craig did not plead with anyone, but it was a different look. One that gently reminded the other that they were friends, BEST friends, and best friends did things like this for each other, they helped each other out.

"Sure Craig." He told him with a forced smile and Craig nodded, smiling back, patting his friend on the back before opening the door and letting them both inside.

They broke off at the door - Craig heading to the far end of the room, his desk was right at the back by the window, but making it as far as central front, not about to miss a chance to brag about his new 'battle scar'. Tweek stood for a moment, still clutching his books to himself in a death-grip as he watched the dark-haired teen re-in-acting a fight that never happened with so much energy anyone would think that it was HIM who was the caffeine addict before shaking his head and taking himself and his books to his own desk - back left, closest to the door should he ever need to make a hasty exit.

"It was epic, man. You should have been there!" Craig's voice rang out, he had quite a crowd around him now and played the centre of attention rather well - grinning crazily and making eye contact with everyone in turn as his arms flailed wildly telling his 'story' - Craig was like that. Tweek did not really understand, but he never really thought he needed to. He just accepted because they were friends. That was what friends did. And when you did not really have many friends, when people thought you were crazy and paranoid and constantly snorting coke every break time (just where that rumour had come from he had no idea… ) you accepted more than most. Still, it worried him more than a lot of things which was quite an undertaking when the world was so brimming over with things to worry about…

"Why does he always have to be so mean to me?" The voice from his left came seconds before the tug at his sleeve so Tweek was unable to tell which it was that caused him to jump out of his chair, whacking his knees on his desk as he went.

"GAH! Jesus Christ! Don't scare me like that, man!" Butters smiled an apology, his grip on the other blondes' sleeve having been released about the same time Tweek had attempted his trip to orbit.

"Sorry." He voiced, waiting for the other teen to calm down a little before repeating his question. "How come Craig isn't always threatening to beat you up? What's your secret?" Tweek blinked, twisting his fingers in his shirt in such tight knots their tips started to turn blue.

"S-secret?" He asked, wide eyes darting randomly as he tried to calm himself. "What do you mean? I don't have any secrets…" That was true; Tweek did not like secrets. Too much pressure involved. Butters giggled.

"He never throws you up against the lockers or a wall or anything." The mental image that thought conjured up made Tweek blush, his eyes snapping straight to the dark-haired teen in question who was laughing merrily at whatever it was people laugh at when they were talking about fights that never happened, Tweek was not sure. Butters watched amused, good-natured smile becoming a grin. "Or does he?" That bought the blonde's attention back to the teen at the next desk.

"Jesus! W-why would you say something like t-that?!" He practically squeaked, colour rising further for reasons unknown to him. "He's not that bad, he's just…" He paused, searching for the right word - one that meant what he wanted it to without sounding completely gay at the same time, "God! I dunno! Volatile?" He asked finally, finding every other word too gay to form. Butters stared at the twitchy blonde for a moment, looking almost confused, until Tweek could not take the scrutiny anymore. "Gah! What?!"

"You DO want him to throw you up against something, don't you?" He said simply, the simple words and straight-forward tone causing Tweek to temporarily forget how to breathe.

"JESUS! NO!" He cried when he remembered how to inflate his lungs again, causing everyone in the room to stare at him and he, in turn, to blush redder than ever and sink down in his chair, praying to whatever God their might be that the ground would just open and swallow him up there and then, all this to the sound of Butters' laughter.

And Butters wondered why Craig was always threatening to 'beat the living shit' out of him...

"I see what he means, sometimes." He muttered under his breath, squeezing his eyes shut, convinced everyone in the class was laughing at him now, despite the lack of any sound at all. It was not until he felt a shadow fall across his desk that he tried to take a peek at what was going on and saw Craig standing there, glaring over at Butters, arms folded and looking incredibly pissed.

Tweek was not sure if to thank God or curse his name.

"You still causing trouble, Fucktard?" He asked, in a tiered tone, shutting Butters up on the spot. This, at least, Tweek was thankful for. "Well? You too shy to talk all of a sudden? That's not like you, man. What were you and my friend here talking about, hmmm?" At that, Tweek's eyes snapped open, first looking to Butters, pleading with him not to repeat what he had said, in jest or otherwise, then to Craig, telling him to leave it. _Please. For the love of GOD…_

"N-nothing." Butters answered quietly, suddenly looking the more nervous of the two blondes as Craig leaned forward, palms of his hands flat on Butters' desk, the sound their contact made making the blonde flinch in a very Tweek-like way. "Really! I didn't do anything! You gotta believe me, Craig!" Craig shrugged.

"Really?" He asked, quite pleasantly this time, Butters nodding so enthusiastically that Tweek thought his head might fall off. _Jesus! That would cause a mess!_ "Cool." He said, nodding back. "Then you won't mind trading seats with me, right? If you're done with your little talk." Butters was up and out of his seat before Craig had even finished speaking, scrambling to collect his books up before the bigger teen changed his mind and decided to beat him anyway. Far from it, he smiled and took the newly vacated seat, throwing his own books down and turning to Tweek who was still trying to work out how to breathe and return to his normal skin colour. "Seriously man, you don't get why that asshole pisses me off?" He asked, leaning over and dropping his tone before adding. "You alright? Sounded like he was getting on your nerves." Tweek nodded, eyes searching out the previous occupant of the desk beside him, scowling for all his worth, because that mental image of Craig pushing him up against _something_ was now firmly implanted in his brain, whether he wanted it there or not. _Bastard._

"Yeah, f-fine." He managed, forcing himself to take a few deep breaths and sit up straight again. "You know, he doesn't mean anything by it." Craig snorted at that, completely missing the scowl his friend had sent the other blonde.

"His stupidity doesn't mean he's exempt from pain." He informed the other, leaning back in his seat and sighing. "You'd think he'd learn, but he seems to just keep getting more and more stupid" Tweek nodded, as much as he disliked all this beating up and stuff, he supposed Craig had a point. Or maybe that was just because he was annoyed at the blonde himself, he was not sure.

"I suppose…" He began, but before he could say anymore, the door opened and in walked their teacher. Always an effective way to shut Tweek up on the spot.

"Good morning, students." She teacher greeted, causing the class to mostly hush as she set her papers down on the desk before surveying the room with a frown. "Leopold? Why are you in Craig's seat?" She asked, eyes flitting to Butters' normal seat now where Craig offered her a wave. "Craig? This was your idea?" She asked, not sure she wanted to know.

"He was pissing off my good friend Tweeky here." He told her, as if that was the best reason in the world. "No big deal." The teacher sighed.

"That is not a valid reason to disrupt my class, and please, do not use that language in here, Craig." She told him, her tone as even as her evidently bad mood would allow. "You can't up and switch places just because…" She paused, eyes narrowing at the dark-haired teen. "Did you just flip me off, Craig?" The whole class was looking now. Staring, actually, and once again Tweek prayed that the ground would open up and take him away from all this unwanted attention.

"…No?" Craig asked, already standing by the time the teacher started yelling for him to go to the Principles' office. "I'll see you at break, okay Tweek?" He asked, pausing to do so right in-front of their teachers' angry glare, it taking all the questioned teen's will-power not to scream under the eyes of the entire class.

"Sure, sure." The blonde affirmed, just wanting the attention away, he swore Craig did stuff like this on purpose… Scratch that, he knew he did. Asshole or not, Tweek had to admit, if only to himself, that he was worth all the crippling humiliation and embarrassment.

xox

Tweek searched the so–called 'playground' for his friend, head sweeping from side to side as his eyes sort him out, hands wringing knots in his shirt as he did so. He was already over the embarrassment caused in their first class of the day. Second class had been maths, a lesson he and Craig did not share thanks the laters' almost unbelievable way with numbers, but when he had run into Kyle at the lockers and the red-head had asked why Craig was not in school today, he had gotten nervous. An hour with the Principle was almost acceptable – mainly because once a student had been sent out of a lesson, they rarely returned, their unruly behaviour sentencing them to some incredibly tedious task under the faculty's watchful eye. _But two hours?!_

"It's just not right, man." Tweek mumbled to himself, moving along now as he continued his search with his head sweeping and darting eyes, his already over-reacting mind travelling a mile a minute. "What if they took him away somewhere? Like that movie…" He paused, letting the mental image form in his mind with perfect detail. "Gah! I gotta find him!" And he was moving again, this time to the side of the school that he normally avoiding at all costs, where they kept the trash skips and where the smokers and stoners tended to hang out. "Oh God..." He muttered as he tentatively crept up on the area, head sweeping and eyes darting more than before, but the relief when he spotted the other teen leaning against the wall away from all the other dregs smoking, was visible. He looked up briefly and nodded to the blonde as he jogged over to him, instantly feeling safe beside him.

"Sorry Tweeky, I meant to meet you before I came down here but..." He shook his head, taking another drag of his cigarette and blowing the grey-blue smoke up to the sky. "Fuck, I needed a smoke, man." He took a final drag before tossing the butt to the ground and stubbing it out with the toe of his shoe.

"What happened?" Tweek asked with a frown. "Kyle said you missed trig, that's two hours you were gone for!"

"You think I got kidnapped or something?" He smirked, only half joking, before pushing himself away from the wall, motioning for the other teen to follow which he did, hands once again fiddling with the fabric of his shirt. "Come on, I hate hangin' around this shit-hole." Tweek nodded, the two of them making their way back round to the front of the school, Craig characteristically quiet, hands buried deep in his pockets, but his usual scowl lacking, something the blonde noticed right away and wasted no time to worry about.

"Craig?" He asked when it became obvious the dark-haired teen was not going to offer any explanation either for what had happened or why they were heading for the Freshman side of the school, the anxiety started to take its' toll of his already extremely worn nerves.

"I need to find Ruby." He replied, tone even, but Tweek could tell his patience was running out and knew better than to push for more information. From what he had learnt from hanging out with Craig, more often than not and despite public opinion, he did and would talk when he was ready to. "The Principle," he began suddenly, it taking all Tweek's self-control not to launch himself into orbit for the second time that day, "that bitch took one look at my eye and sent me straight to the consoler where I spent the last God-knows how fucking long trying to convince her I wasn't being beaten and abused by some random family member." He did scowl now, eyes still trying to pick out his sister's shock of red hair, stomping forward causing Tweek to jog every now and again to keep up.

"But Craig?" His friend asked quietly. "You kinda were..." This caused the dark-haired teen to pause, frown, then shrug, spotting Ruby with three of her friends up ahead, grabbing Tweek by the sleeve of his shirt and pulling him along at his own, faster pace.

"Whatever." He muttered in response, not finding this input to be relevant. "Yo, Ruby!" He called, causing all four girls to look round at the spectacle of the taller, dark-haired teen dragging the smaller blonde, struggling and protesting all the while, in their direction.

"Craig!" The red-head smiled, peeling away from her friends, the three of them huddling together to best observe the action they were sure was to follow, all eyes glued to the trio. "Hi Tweek, you good?" She greeted, smile widening as her brother finally let the blonde go, leaving him to reclaim his shirt, sending the other a good-natured glare before smiling uncomfortably at his enquirer.

"Y-yeah, good t-thanks." He told her, politely before turning back to his friend. "Do you have to drag me around? I'm not an old bag you can just pull about from place to place, Christ." Craig just shrugged again.

"You are slow though." He pointed out, simply before turning back to his sister. "Did you get called to the Principles' office today?" Her smile disappeared at that and she shook her head.

"Why, did you? What did you do this time?" Craig rolled his eyes. "This is your last year, Craig! You don't need all this shit on your last year record, you'll never get into college and out of this shit-hole town!" Craig opened his mouth to reply when Tweek butted in.

"That's what I keep telling him." He said, getting a glare from his so-called friend to which he shrugged in a 'what? It's true' motion.

"Alright, okay, I know. Christ! You guys are worse than the fucking parents!" He pointed to Ruby at that comment. "Which is why I need to talk to you. How about the consoler? Did she corner you at all?" By now, Ruby was getting concerned.

"No, what's going on?" She asked, causing her brother to sig, looking around, gauging how close anyone else was to them and if they could hear before divulging the asked for information.

"They've been asking about my eye." He spoke quietly, regardless of there being no-one nearby on his previous survey of people. "I told them it was just another fight, so if they do talk to you, say the same." He frowned then shook his head. "No, tell them you didn't even know, alright?" When she did not reply, simply looking straight back into her older brothers' eyes, he placed his hands on her shoulder, coming down to her level and repeating his words, Tweek standing by nervously. "You didn't even know." She frowned, opening her mouth to speak but Craig did not give her the chance. "Please Ruby." This time, Tweek could have sworn Craig was pleading with her... Eventually, she nodded and he smiled, hugging her briefly, muttering words of thanks. "Good girl, don't worry, I'll sort it."

"I hope you know what you're doing." She told him, just as quietly as he had spoken to her before and Tweek saw for the first time just how alike the two siblings were, it made him smile just a little.

"Sure I do." He told her, a blatant lie. "Now I'll meet you at the front gate after school, okay? We'll walk back together." He nodded towards Tweek. "Him too." The blonde gaped.

"Me?! Since when?!" He practically yelled, causing Ruby to chuckle lightly and yes, he could definitely see the family resemblance in that particular gesture. "Why not ask Clyde or Token?!" Craig simply blinked as if he had decided these ages ago and just had not seen the importance in informing his friend of it.

"Since now, chillax." He told him, throwing in an almost real smile. "I need your help with something, not theirs, no big deal." That almost-smile became a grin at that as he added the immortal words; "You'll help me out, right?" The look on his face when combined with those words almost daring the blonde to say no but instead evoking the desired sigh of defeat.

"I don't know why I'm friends with you - the stress levels involved are insane, man!" He answered, not even half joking. He honestly had no idea how he got himself involved in these things, with these people...

"You love me really." He reminded his friend, draping an arm around the others' shoulders for a moment in a sort of one-armed hug before letting him go once more and just as suddenly to the sounds of more of Ruby's laughter.

"I don't know why..." He muttered, looking down and wrapping his arms around himself at the loss of the warmth the other's arm had briefly offered and for some form of comfort from all this manipulation. When he looked up again, both the Cramer siblings were frowning at him causing him to replay his last few words, trying his hardest to suppress any massive reaction, then adding; "W-why I put up with you, I mean." And just like that, the mental image was back once again. _Damn Butters._ Next time he would just let Craig kill him, end of story. "It's cold, I'm going inside." He announced, turning and walking back the way they had come, cursing Butters' name under his breath for giving his already over-active imagination such an image to conjure up at inappropriate moments. He heard Craig say something to his sister, heard her laugh, and finally heard the other teens' footsteps jog to catch up to him, placing a hand on his left shoulder when he was level with him again.

"You can walk fast when you want to." He told him, grinning in an attempt to make his friend smile, although Tweek did not seem to find it funny, any good humour he may have had left after the way this day had been going - finding his best friend threatening another friend, receiving a confession of violence from said best friend then being asked to lie about it, getting mental images planted in his mind he never asked for, being embarrassed in-front of his entire English class, braving the Goths smoking hang out to find the same said 'best friend' and finally being manipulated to the point where he did not actually know where he was going anymore... _Beautiful_ - practically wiped clean with his current hatred for Butters', the normally well-meaning, optimistic blonde who had, as far as Tweek was starting to believe, all but ruined the friendship he had once enjoyed with the teen currently trying to make him smile. "What's up, Blondey? Did I say something to piss you off?" Tweek shook his head and sighed.

"No," he admitted, falling into step with his friend, arms still hugging himself. "I just remembered something that annoyed me." Did it annoy him though? Really, when he thought about it, he was not sure and this was why he had been trying not to think about it. Even if he had only managed to do so for the brief period of time when he had been looking for Craig earlier, distracted by the idea that his best friend had been kidnapped and turned into a pod-person. He looked over to the other teen, touching on the idea of Pod-Craig actually being better, easier to deal with at the very least, then changing his mind, smiling slightly at the thought. Craig without his split personality and devil-may-care attitude just was not Craig somehow – headache or not.

"Anyone you want me to kill?" He asked and even though he was grinning, Tweek knew if he did offer up a name the person it belonged to would look a hell of a lot worse than Craig did right now when he saw them next. He shook his head, in a way it was nice of the other teen to offer - he would beat a person up for you in the same way a more 'normal' person would shout you lunch, so Tweek did appreciate the gesture. He wondered sometimes if Craig did not go around threatening people on his behalf a lot, he never really got into trouble with the other kids himself which he always felt was a little strange considering the way he was. Maybe it was just the fact that Craig and he were friends that stopped the bullies? No-one had so much as shoved him (except Craig himself, and that was different) since they had become friends after that stupid fight Cartman, Stan and Kyle had roped them into almost ten years ago. He never was able to figure it out. He had asked the other once but he had only blinked and asked _'how the fuck should I know? Jesus! Just be happy about it. Christ!' _He supposed that said more than anything else could have.

"You don't have to come over after school if you don't want to." Craig said suddenly, hands buried in his pockets again and thoughtful frown on his face. "If you have plans or something, it's cool. I shouldn't have just assumed." Tweek blinked at this almost-apology, this was certainly not like Craig and that pod-person idea was suddenly all he could think about.

"Nono, I'll come, it's okay." He gave the other teen one of his best smiles, feeling as though he needed it more he himself did right now. "I don't mind helping you out, Craig. Really." The taller teen's frown only intensified at that, not used to Tweek being so flexible just as the other was not used to himself seeming so down and for a while, he did not know what to say. The school bell rang, signalling the end of first break, and his time to think of something suitable.

"You're a good friend." He said at last, smiling a rare genuine smile before nodding towards the main school building. "You have a late lunch, right?" The blonde nodded, he was not happy about that. "I'll meet you after school then. Main gate, cool?" This time the nod was accompanied by a more happy expression.

"Sure." He affirmed, watching as Craig began to walk away, pausing in thought for a moment before calling after him; "Craig! Try not to get into anymore trouble today, okay?" Then he laughed, making his way to his own class.

The other teen had, of course, just flipped him off.


	3. Chapter Two

**Author notes – **Late. AGAIN. I'm sorry! I got to working on another SP multi-chaptered fic and couldn't STOP and so, this one suffered, sadly. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea though – I am dedicated to finishing this, some of the later chapters are already written, I just need to GET there, is all. So yeah, this is a pretty pointless chapter, I think, but hey! I write a lot of those so... Yeah. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really hope you will continue to enjoy this!

**Chapter Two;**

Craig was the first one out at the end of school, he took his position, standing just outside the main gates, and lit up his sixth cigarette of the day while he waited for his best friend and sister to join him so he could start work on his master-plan.

Of course he did not really have any plans what-so-ever so this was a slight concern.

It was also the reason why he needed Tweek.

Yes, _needed_, and as amusing as he thought that sounded, it was true beyond a shadow of a doubt in his mind. The jittery blonde was a great many things to him and his best friend was just one in a long line. Craig thought it was because of this that he knew about the other things, no-one else seemed to.

It would not cross his mind that Tweek knew because Tweek cared – that was simply not logical. Just as he acknowledged Tweek was a great many things, Craig knew himself to be much the same way, although none of those were even close to nice.

_Weak, useless, pathetic, failure, powerless... Well_, not powerless, he supposed – he was still fighting, still looking for a way out of this seemingly hopeless situation, after all, but as for the rest? _Certainly._ Definitely not worth caring about.

He scowled inwardly and took a final drag of his cigarette before throwing it to the ground where it hissed quietly in the snow before going out.

If all his problems were so easily extinguished, life would be so simple...

"Craig! Where've you been all day, man?" Clyde Donovan called to his friend, Craig rolled his eyes briefly as they made their way over, not sure he was up to even the limited act required in front of the well-meaning teen and their other friend, Token Black. "We were looking everywhere for you." Craig looked from one friend to the other saying nothing for a moment, mind settling that fine, whatever; these guys were close friends too and even if they did not know everything, talking to them while he waited would not kill him.

"Around." He muttered, shrugging as if uninterested. "Must've been lookin' in the wrong places." He explained, as much as he ever cared to when people questioned him about his ware-a-bouts or what he deemed to be his 'personal business'.

"Meaning you were locked away with that consoler all day, right?" Token interjected with a grin, Craig unable not to return the gesture. "You can't get one passed us, we're your friends and we know the way your mind works," he paused, "or doesn't, as the case maybe." Craig flipped his coloured friend off at that.

"With friends like you guys, who needs enemies?" He asked, tone deadpan and causing Token to chuckle while Clyde only smiled slightly, obviously still too caught up on the previous statement to enjoy his friend's crankiness any further.

"Again?" He asked, letting out an over-dramatic sigh and shaking his head like an over-stressed mother talking to a constantly disobedient child, this act only causing Token to laugh harder and even Craig to smile, amused. "Who'd you piss off this time?" He grinned himself now, pleased to have been the cause of such merriment amongst his friends." Craig shook his head.

"Don't you start," he began, another well-timed eye roll thrown in as part of the little act, "I've been getting that from Tweeky all day." He lifted a hand and mimicked what he thought was an accurate description of the blonde's constant worrying on the subject by opening and closing it in a 'yap, yap, yap' motion, this doing a good job of steering the conversation away from where Clyde had led it as he laughed instead.

"Haven't seen that spaz around today, either, come to think about it..." He said when he was done, causing Craig to frown – even if the term 'spaz' had been used by all of them (even Tweek himself, once or twice) to describe their friend, he did not much care for it himself, even less so for what it implied – he was given no chance to defend the other before Token spoke, completely dead-pan tone and expression.

"Maybe he wasn't at the consoler's after all," he suggested, nudging the other as he scowled, previous good humour fast evaporating, "could it be the two of you were hauled up someplace and actually enjoying your school hours while the rest of us were working our asses off?" This sent Clyde into a fit of hysterics after taking a brief moment to catch up with what was being suggested, Token helping him out with a wag of his eyebrows.

"Leave it out, Tweek's no fag." He told them, far less amused at such a joke than he might normally be, considering the four of them (three of them, mainly, Tweek was normally too busy having a heart attack at the very thought to participate) liked to poke fun in such ways on a more-or-less regular basis.

"And you are?" Token asked, grinned at the thought of pulling one over on their 'leader', as it were. Craig only scowling more, colour rising slightly to his cheeks although that could easily be put down to annoyance rather than embarrassment.

"Haha." He replied, mildly but offered nothing more, Token chuckling again and giving his friend a one-armed hug to show there were no hard feelings. Craig thought they would have to see about that, he was starting to wish he had not decided to talk to these assholes he had mistaken for his friends...

"Alright, so you weren't molesting jittery blonde's," Clyde summarized when he was able to think again, "where were you, man?" With another sigh, Craig pulled off his ever-present hat and ran a hand through his untidy hair.

"Consoler's," he admitted, shrugging when they both looked at him disapprovingly. "Oh, come on guys, it's no big deal!" He tried to defend himself, "Not like I was kicking some Fucktard's ass or something, Christ!" Of course, that drew his friends attention to the new battle scar, him mentally kicking himself when he worked out what would come next. His friends worried about him, he was not stupid, he knew they did whether he liked it or not, but he wished they would just keep their damn noses out sometimes. _ALL the time..._

"Certainly looks like you had a run in with someone..." Clyde began, as if on cue, but luckily for Craig, his sister made her way towards him then and gave him the perfect escape.

"Sorry guys, the gossip will have to wait," he told them, sounding no-where near sincere in his apology, already moving to meet Ruby. "I gotta get Ruby home, I'll catch you tomorrow." He offered them a brief wave over his shoulder as he jogged towards his sister, leaving the other two to look at each other and shrug, simotainiously. Craig made his way across over to meet his sister, the red-head frowning when she saw him approach, bidding her friends a quick fair-well as she sped up to meet him too, an expression of worry etched on her features.

"What's wrong, Craig? Did something happen? Are you alright?" Her brother smiled at her, it was nice to have at least one person who cared if you were alright, he supposed. There were more, knew that deep-down, had he not just been wishing his friends would not worry so much? Did they not worry because they cared? _Pfft, details... _He nodded, motioning to where Token and Clyde were still watching him with his head.

"Those two were giving me the third degree so I bailed." He explained, offering no more information than that, instead draping an arm around his sister's shoulders and walking her back the way she came. "We need to go meet Tweek, he should be in social studies, that asshole teacher of his always keeps his class behind like he's some kinda damn king or something..." His eyes narrowed dangerously and Ruby watched, used to the change but never really liking it much. "Makes me so fucking angry the liberties these bastards take sometimes." He sighed, and with that, the anger seemed to leave him. He turned to his sister again, smiling. "You know what it's like, right kid?" Ruby smiled back, a rather toned down version of her brother's expression but a smile non-the-less. She liked her brother far more this way – all smiles and jokes and happy – not the angry, scowling thing everyone else saw at school every day or the broken and hurt but trying so desperately not to show either that he was at home sometimes. At night, late, after a visit from their mother, she would wait until the foot-falls on the landing faded and the bedroom door down the hall had closed before getting out of bed, slipping out into the darken hallway and tip-toeing towards her brother's door...

Her big, strong, older brother who was always there to look after her, who would always makes sure was okay, no matter how much he got hurt in the process...

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and ordered the summoned memories out of her mind. She wished forever, but even at her age, knew better than that.

"What's up, kid?" She heard him ask, her eyes snapping open again at the sound of his gentle voice, concern filling it as he watched her, carefully. She smiled again, more real this time and he returned the gesture out of pure relief.

"I'm fine. What room is this asshole teacher with a Napoleon complex keeping Tweek in?" Craig gave her another look, one that said 'I know you're changing the subject and I won't forget it' but she kept her stance, waiting for him to leave it as she knew he would because he always did in the end. Craig knew what it was like to have a secret you did not want to talk about, after all.

"Forty-seven." He replied, moving again towards the right room, Ruby following as he strode along, eyes facing forward and bag slung over his shoulder as he moved through the fast emptying hallways. "This one." He said, stopping suddenly – and purposely just because he could, Ruby thought. She may freely acknowledge that he was a big brother to be proud of, but he was still a big brother – causing the red-head to walk into him and himself to chuckle.

"Asshole." She muttered, grinning as she did so and getting a hair-tussle from Craig in the process before the elder sibling turned his attention back to the door in front of him, moving to peer through the small, round window.

Yep, there was Tweek; End of the back row, nearest the door. He sat in the same place in all his classes, made for an easy escape, so the blonde told him once. He looked like he could use one of those right now, from what Craig could see – fidgeting more than normal, his eyes snapping from the clock, to his teacher then to the door – his eyes widening when he saw Craig's face pressed up against the glass, trying to mouth 'sorry' without being caught, causing Craig to roll his eyes and flip off the teacher, Tweek smiling at his antics.

"Alright, show time." He muttered, Ruby giving him an odd look as he handed her his bag, about to ask what he was doing when he knocked on the door and walked right on in, not so much as waiting for an invitation, Ruby moving to take his place at the window at the door – she was not about to miss whatever this was.

"Hey, could I borrow Tweek, please?" He asked, tone of voice perfectly reasonable as if bursting in on a class in progress and asking to remove one of the students without offering any reasons for either was normal. The teacher, a Mr. Simmons, simply gave Craig a perplexed and slightly confused look, as if he was not entirely sure how to respond to such a request, Tweek in the meantime, stared, wondering just why his best friend seemed to hate him so much...

"May I ask why, young man?" He said finally, Craig giving him one of his best 'grown up' smiles and nodding as if that was perfectly acceptable.

"Oh, sure," he began, "See, class finished nearly ten minutes ago and we need to get home, doctor's appointment, you see," he paused and shook his head, sparing Tweek a quick look before lowering his voice to continue, "His mother, his real mother, not the one he lives with now, she was a Cocaine addict. You know how he shakes and twitches all the time?" The teacher nodded, sparing Tweek a look of concern before returning his attention back to Craig for the rest of the story, "That's why, he needs to get checked over regularly and I have about..." He checked his watch for effect, he knew the time just fine, which was more than could be said for the basics of the story he had just made up on the spot, "...less than half an hour." The teacher gave another look to the twitching blonde at the back of his class, then nodded to Craig.

"Mr. Tweak," he called, Tweek's eyes snapping up from his desk (which he had been staring at and muttered for Craig to just not do anything to embarrass him, not twice in one day) to the front of the room, "You're excused. Get a move on or you're going to miss your appointment." Tweek nodded, throwing his things into his bag as fast as he could and trying not to think too much about the rest of the class who he could hear whispering all around him.

"Y-yes, sir." He muttered, standing and making his way to the door where Craig stood waiting for him, face solemn and only going to confuse him further, so wrapped up in his thoughts that when the teacher placed a hand on his shoulder, he almost screamed.

"You should have told me if needed to leave early," he said, that look of gentle concern still apparent on his features, Tweek only nodding slowly in response, "I hope everything turn out okay for you, Mr. Tweak." More nodding followed, what else could he do when he had no idea what was going on?

"Thank you?" He asked, completely lost and glad when Craig shuffled him out of the room, waiting until they were safely on the other side of the door before speaking. "What the hell did you say to him, Craig?" He asked, both awed and more than a little nervous, he had known Craig for most of his life, after all, and that was cause enough to be wary. The dark-haired teen simply shrugged, grabbing his bag back from his sister and ushering them both towards the door that led them out of the school building.

"Said your mom was a crack-whore and I needed to get you to the docs for a check-up." Tweek simply gaped while Ruby looked at her brother for a second – he shrugged, a 'what?' gesture – then cracked up while Tweek had a small panic attack right there at the school steps.

"JESUS, Craig!" He yelped, expression somewhere between panic and anger, although the second not showing through at all, Craig shaking his head and tugging at Tweek's coat to coax him into moving down the stairs and towards home.

"What?!" He asked, once they were all walking again, "Not the mom you live with, your real mom." The blonde completely missing the joking tone in his friend's voice and simply freaking out more. _Christ! Did he not realize you could not just go around saying such things?! True or not, did he know understand the trouble he could get them both into?!_

"That IS my real mom!" He shouted, Craig looking at him like he was crazy.

"Sheesh, I know that! I was lying." He informed the other teen, as if that was the most simple thing in the world to understand, Tweek blinking back at him, still uncomprehending.

"But you can't do that, man! You can't go saying... Ruby, stop laughing, Christ!" The red-head only finding the act of Tweek shouting at her more amusing, tears in her eyes now as she continued in her hysterics, causing Tweek to shake his head, "You two are as bad as each other." He whined, uselessly, Craig only joining in with his sister's laughter now, draping an arm around his best friend to show he meant nothing by it, although he was aware that he was, in most other people's words, being an asshole. Tweek sighed, defeated. "I hate you."

"Come on man, I got you outta class, right?" He grinned as the blonde sighed a second time, that much could not be argued with, he supposed, "Well then! Don't worry about the details, let's just get back and start enjoying our weekend, deal?" Tweek simply sighed and nodded once again, he did not see how he had much choice in the matter but then again, most things were that way when Craig was involved and more often than not, Tweek was glad for that.

"Yeah, I suppose." He agreed, somewhat reluctantly. It was done now, after all, plus it was Friday afternoon and that meant the furthest possible time away from more school, that thought alone made it hard not to forgive the other's 'fun' and just enjoy the weekend before it was over. That was a laugh with Craig around. Stressless fun, at any rate...

They made their way back to the Cramer house slowly, Craig and Ruby chatty between themselves while Tweek walked alongside the elder of the two, content to listen and offer only the odd word every now and again. He quite liked watching the siblings, he found it a little fascinating the way they were with one-another, even more so after Craig had told him about 'the way things were'. He had to admit, it made a lot more sense now – even if Craig had always been perfectly fine with him, Clyde and Token, it struck him as odd how someone so volatile would be so close to and protective of their little sister.

The closer they got to the house, however, the slower Craig seemed to get and Tweek supposed he could understand that well enough, he could not say he much liked the place anymore than his best friend did.

"There it is," Craig muttered quietly, his eyes darkening as the house came into view, Ruby sparing her brother a worried glance, then sharing it with Tweek who tried an uneasy smile, not sure what he could say to that, if anything at all. Craig took a deep breath before moving on at an increased speed, his two companions having to jog to catch up, "Come on."

Craig hated the house. Everything about it seemed to him to absorb the filth and nastiness the rest of the town had about it. He hated his room even more, his _prison_. Always spotlessly tidy but cramped enough for anything else to not be much of an option. He had switched rooms with his sister a few years ago, not wanting her to be so close to their parents, and as a result got stuck with the smaller room but not caring in the slightest if he thought for just one second it might help to keep her safe. His mood lightened a little when he noticed his parents car was missing from the driveway, at least. With any luck, they would be gone all weekend and that suited Craig just fine. He let himself into the house, holding the door for Ruby and Tweek, neither of which seemed to like the house anymore than he did, before closing it again and dropping his bag on the floor, slipping his shoes off and kicking them into the corner beside it before making his way to the kitchen.

"You guys want a snack or something?" He called, pausing in his actions to hear any reply there might be, but instead he only heard foot-falls on the stairs and frowned, turning and about to investigate but instead coming face to face with Tweek. "Fuck, Tweek!" He exclaimed, the blonde seeming just as startled as he himself was, "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that, man." He warned, unable not to smile despite his own almost-heart attack, the look on Tweek's face was just too funny. "Ruby alright?" He asked when the blonde offered no words of his own, changing the subject to his original cause of concern.

"She went to call her friend about staying over for the weekend." Tweek replied, smiling a thank you when Craig handed him a packet of crisps, taking one for himself before moving onto the important task of coffee-making. "Does she always do that?" He asked, watching as the other went about preparing the coffee, "I mean, stay at her friend's place." Craig nodded, finally turning to face his friend while he waited for the kettle to boil.

"At the weekends, yeah – it's safer." He explained, Tweek only nodded slowly. He wondered if his friend ever thought about what would be safest for _him_, what he could do himself to stay out of his parents way. He worked weekends, Tweek knew that much, but from the limited amount of knowledge he had on what went on here, it seemed to him that the nights were more dangerous than the days.

"Y-you know," he began, talking quietly as he wrung his shirt in his hands, "You can stay at my place for the weekend, if you want? Mom and dad won't mind." Craig blinked at him, Tweek a little taken back at just how honest a reaction that was for his friend to show so freely. He still expected a no, though. Or an argument at the very least – Craig Cramer did not take help well.

"You don't think they'd mind?" He asked instead, an obvious hesitance in his tone that was rare for him, Tweek simply shaking his head, words failing him. "Well then," he said with a smile, "Thanks man, that would be good." Tweek nodded slowly, not having expected the other to agree so easily, this both making him glad and somehow more nervous about just how bad things were around this place...

"I'll give mom a call then, if that's okay?" He asked, pointing towards the phone as if Craig could see as he fussed over the coffee-to-crème ratio to add to each cup. Tweek wondered if he was this bothered by such things when he was making coffee just for himself. The thought that maybe he was not made him smile to himself.

"Sure, go for it." He replied, flipping off the kettle as he waited for the device to finally come to the boil, Tweek shaking his head and making his way to the phone. He knew the Cramer house pretty well, not as well as Craig knew his house, he supposed - they tended to hang out there more often than here, for obvious reasons - but still he knew he had spent more time here than any of their other friends. That thought made him smile a little too. It was probably silly, he thought, to find such good feeling in these little things but the more he thought about it, the more sense it all seemed to make. Craig liked him, he trusted him, he let him help... That had to mean, something, right?

He shook his head, momentarily annoyed at Butters again for putting such stupid ideas into his head. He swore that if this _thing_, whatever it was, ended up ruining their friendship... Well, he would do _something,_ he just did not know what, yet.

He decided not to think about it, punching his home number into the phone and waiting for his mother to answer. No, of course she did not mind Craig staying for the weekend – 'it's so lovely to have your friends stay over' – she was just going to the store for dinner, was there anything Craig would like? Tweek asked, Craig shook his head, a little surprised at the question and causing Tweek to smile again – he knew that look and was glad that he knew someone seemed to care about him – he relayed this and was asked if there was anything he needed himself, just more coffee, that was all, 'we'll be back in an hour or so, see you then' and he hung up the phone, looking up to see Craig standing beside the sofa he was sitting on with two cups of coffee, one of which he held out to the blonde who took it with a quick 'thank you' and moved over so that Craig could sit down too.

"It's okay for me to stay over?" He asked, assuming such after the question Tweek had asked on his mother's behalf, Tweek took a long sip of his bitter-sweet drink and nodded, sighing contently as the warm liquid filled him from top to toe, always at his happiest with a cup of Craig Cramer coffee.

"Fine," he replied, taking another sip and following it with another sigh before speaking again, "I told her we'd be down in about an hour but she said not to rush, we could get take-out whenever we were hungry, she insisted." Craig nodded slowly, watching the blonde closely for a moment - Tweek wanted ask what it was he was thinking, what was on his mind and could he help but he did not - eventually Craig leaned back into the sofa beside him, drinking his own coffee. "Hey, what was it you needed my help with?" The blonde asked, their plans to leave suddenly reminding him of why he was here in the first place. Craig shrugged as if it were unimportant, he still had not thought of anything, anyway.

"We can talk about it at yours, it's cool." He told him, buying himself more time to come up with something better than 'I just wanted to hang out with you' before taking a look at his watch then draining his still hot drink and placing the cup beside him on the end table. "I'll go hurry Ruby up and stick a few things in a bag for the weekend, want me to bring anything?" Tweek thought about this for a moment.

"You can bring Halo along, if you like?" He asked, knowing how much Craig loved that game, even if he himself was not so keen, the grin on the brunette's face at the suggestion was worth it, anyways.

"Can do." He replied happily, "Won't be long, stick the TV on, if you like, yeah?" Tweek just nodded, quite happy to sit and drink his coffee nice and slowly as he heard Craig thundering up the stairs, "Yo, Ruby! Get your ass moving, Munchkin! I'm stayin' at Tweek's and if you want us to walk you to Emily's we need to leave in ten, got that?" Tweek smiled again, letting himself sink further back into the sofa. Craig seemed happy, that was good. He smiled more when Craig was happy, whatever that meant, he really did not much care – it was nice, and that was good enough for him.

_For now._

xox

They walked Ruby to her friend's place after that, the two siblings talking amongst themselves while Tweek looked on, as always. He waited quietly at his best friend's side as Craig chatted to who he assumed was Emily's mother, the way they spoke to one-another, Tweek thought that he did this a lot, maybe he walked his sister here every weekend and stopped to talk for a while?

A smile and a promise that he would be called if anything should happen, and the two were off again, this time heading for the Tweak house, Tweek with his school bag still on his back and Craig with his slung over his shoulder, now filled with clothes, toiletries and video games as well as school books, no doubt.

At the Tweak house, Tweek's mother greeted them, fussing over what they would like to eat and drink and having everything prepared before the two teens had even managed to set up their first game of Halo.

They played and ate and laughed up until Tweek's mother appeared again, asking them what sort of take-out they would like. They agreed on pizza; Hawaiian for Craig and barbeque chicken for Tweek – Craig tried to pay for his own and almost got yelled at by Tweek's mother, finally giving in after she threatened him with tofu instead if he was going to 'continue to be unreasonable' while Tweek was not sure if to be amused of embarrassed. Still, Craig did not seem to mind too much, had completely forgotten about the whole thing by the time the pizza arrived, in fact, and the two of them ate in front of the wide-screen TV in the Tweak's living room while watching Craig's favourite Bond movie – Goldeneye, Tweek insisted he chose, being 'the guest' – before going back up to Tweek's room for more Halo followed by Zelda; Twilight Princess since Tweek was stuck and Craig found that so hysterical that he just had to help his friend out once he had stopped laughing.

By the time night fell, they were both pretty tiered, Craig called his sister while Tweek washed up and got ready for bed – she was just fine 'why do you insist on checking up on me all the damn time?! Christ!' - then Tweek made up his sofa-bed for his friend while he washed up and changed himself.

They watched late-night TV for a little while, Tweek so sure that some sort of horror film would come on suddenly and invade his dreams that eventually, Craig relented and turned the thing off, leaving them to talk in the darkness for a while before the silence of the night infected the room as well.

As it did, Craig lay on his bed on Tweek's sofa, wondering just how long it had been since he had had an evening like this; One without worry or fear, one with actual _fun_... He had Tweek to thank for that, and he would – tomorrow, after his shift at the video game store. He would bring back some snacks and the latest new release and they could stay up half the night watching movies and eating popcorn.

He smiled to himself, shifting a little to find a comfortable position to sleep in.

Yes, that would be nice, too. That would be fun.

He would have to thank Tweek properly sometime, though. Somehow.

_I'll think of something._


	4. Chapter three

**Author notes; **An update, go me! XD Not much actually happens in this chapter, but I guess it was important to include for the whole 'progression of the story' THING. I dunno. I'll apologize now for any spelling/grammar errors, I DID check it through, but I'm pretty sick right now so I'm sure I missed something somewhere... Try and enjoy despite that small fact, though.

**Chapter Three;**

Saturday morning came all too quickly for Craig, although he was not sure what surprised him most on waking – the room or the fact that he was the only one in it. After a few minutes, pulling himself up to sit on his sofa bed with a yawn and rubbing his eyes in attempt to speed up the waking process, he decided it was probably neither; Not like he had never stayed over at Tweek's place before and not like the blonde was normally there when he woke up so really, he supposed the fact that he actually felt rested was more the surprise.

That and it was already almost ten.

"Shit," he muttered to himself on noticing this little fact, he had work today, in two hours, and where-as that left probably more than enough time to get ready and eat, he could not remember the last time he had slept past seven...

He decided he could ponder that more later, pulling himself up and stretching, letting out another yawn before turning to fold the blankets of his little, make-shift bed and then gathering up his clothes in order to change, Tweek making his way back into the room just in time to get a rather nice view of the brunette fussing with his top, the only other clothes covering him being his boxers and socks.

"Gah!" The blonde yelped at the sight, cheeks immediately lighting up and giving off a heat so warm he was surprised the other could not feel it, "Jesus! I'm s-sorry, Craig." He tried to apologize, Craig only continuing to fight with his long-sleeved t-shirt, finally getting it on and only a little amused at his best friend's actions, "W-want me to go?" The addressed teen simply shook his head, trying to relocate his jeans now.

"What? Kick you out your own room?" He asked, obvious amusement in his voice as well a grin on his lips as he pulled the jeans on and fastened them, "Don't be retarded." He added, apparently completely missing the point, and _sure! Why wouldn't he?! HE wasn't the one with the stupid crush thanks to stupid Butters now, was he?!_ Tweek frowned inwardly at himself, trying to concentrate on being annoyed at his so-called blonde friend and NOT on how Craig's boxer hung kind of low on his hips, showing off the way they angled so _perfectly_ a little too well... "What's up with you?" The brunette asked, snapping his friend back to the room and doing nothing to help the blush that still crowned his cheeks.

"N-nothing." He muttered, looking away awkwardly while Craig continued in his confusion. "M-mom asked if you wanted to skip breakfast and have an early lunch, since you gotta go to work and it's a little late..." he trailed off at that, sighing deeply; Butters really did have a hell of a lot to answer for...

"Sounds like a plan," he replied, nodding to his friend, "How come you let me sleep so late, anyway?" He asked, that frown returning just a little, generally curious about that, "You know I never sleep in this late, haven't for years." Tweek nodded himself now, forcing his gaze back over to his friend.

"That's precisely why," he informed him, opening his bedroom door again and taking a couple of steps out before stopping and waiting for Craig to join him, "I figured you could use the extra rest, sorry if that was wrong..." Craig cut him off there, indeed following him first out into the hallway and then on down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"What did I tell you about being retarded?" He asked, Tweek only blinking back, not sure what to say to that, "It's cool, kinda nice you thought to care, I guess." He shrugged, like such a thing was no big deal although in his mind they both knew it was and even as he spoke, he decided whatever this thing he planned to do for Tweek to show he was grateful, it would _have_ to be good. "No one's really bothered how much sleep I get before." The blonde said nothing to that, just barely hid a smile at the words then silently berated himself for something so stupid while the two of them took seats at the kitchen table. Mrs. Tweak greeted their house-guest with a smile of her own, fussing about over what Craig wanted to eat while Tweek helped himself to his forth coffee of the day and watched from his chair.

It was nice, he decided, to have Craig here like this. Sure, he was still worried about his friend, past experience told him he probably always would be too, but there was something about the other actually letting him help him at all that made him unable not to wonder back once more to what he had been trying so desperately hard not to think about. That was odd too, how one seemingly innocent comment (well, maybe not 'innocent', but a single comment, non-the-less,) could change so much about just about everything.

Tweek had a rather unique mind; As much as he hated to think over certain subjects, he found he almost had a compulsion to try and understand and thus ended up thinking about them anyway, and in far more detail. He had spent a great deal of the night before trying to decide if he had ever had such thoughts about his best friend before Butters had said anything, but as far as he could remember, if he had, they he had buried them deep enough in his mind so that the information on just what he had felt and under what circumstances was almost impossible to retrieve. He almost wished he could know for sure, one way or another, if he had managed to bury something like that away so easily then doing so again should not be too hard and even if he could not this time for whatever reason, it would still be a very useful talent to have...

Then again, he could be wrong. About how he thought he felt and how he was starting to wonder if Craig felt too. It seemed both more likely and more impossible the more he thought about it, which had led him only to the conclusion that NOT thinking about it was probably the best course of action. He liked that idea too - Craig had been his first real friend and he was almost certain he would not have half of the other friends he had now if it had not been for him, not to mention so many bully-free years of school. He did not want to risk that. Even if it were Craig who came up to him and told him he _did_ feel that way, he was not sure it would be worth the risk. And of course, if he was wrong – and he certainly had no plan in mind to find out one way or another – then that would almost completely under-mind everything he had been thinking about their friendship. It would mean that if Craig did not like him that way, and if Tweek was to be completely honest with himself he could not see why he would anyway, then he was simply trusting someone aside from himself for the first time and what was Tweek doing?

"I'm lying to his face." He muttered, the sound of his voice catching Craig's attention, although apparently not so he could actually make out what was said as he frowned at his friend, who had taken a long sip of his drink to try and cover up for the fact that he had spoken at all, from behind his own cup.

"What's going in that head of yours?" He asked, his words void of any tact, as was normally the case, "You've been acting weird ever since you came to get me for lunch." Tweek blinked at him, considered hiding behind his coffee cup again, but having only just then noticed his mother had left the room, decided to speak instead, whether he had any idea of what he was going to say really not entering his mind until he had already begun to say it.

"I-I have?" He asked, trying to sound genuinely surprised, although from the way Craig was watching him – a look that clearly said 'cut the crap' - Tweek found he was unable to ignore in its entirety, choosing to avert his eyes as tactfully as was possible and shrug, "Sorry, I'm just tiered, I guess. Didn't sleep so good last night, that's all." Which, for reasons he was still thinking over, was true. Far from having the desired effect of easing Craig's mind and taking them away from the subject though, the brunette's expression seemed to fall to one of concern, sparking the beginnings of a panic in Tweek as he tried to think of something more he could add to either explain or change the subject completely.

"Because I'm here?" Craig asked, sounding slightly less like himself, obviously not pleased with the idea that he had caused his friend some sort of trouble after agreeing so readily to his offer of a bed for the weekend. Tweek's eyes went wide as he shook his head, "You sure?" Was his next question, some relief present in his tone now, but still that concern showed in his eyes, "I can go if it's easier, really it's no big deal."

"Jesus, no!" He exclaimed, still shaking his head, "I wouldn't have asked you to stay if I didn't want you here, that would have been pretty stupid of me, don't you think?" He tried a reassuring smile but not sure if he managed and took a sip of his drink to cover up the fact. "I like having you here, it's nice waking up with you right there." The reactions to hearing those words out-loud, as true as they were, were instantaneous; Tweek's eyes went even wider still as panic crept through him, he gripped at his cup in a death-grip simply so he would not end up covering his traitor mouth with his hands and he only noticed he was holding his breath when the need to either breath or pass out hit him.

"What?" Craig asked, clearly confused now while a flustered Tweek tried to think of how exactly he could explain that little slip with little to no avail. A real fear beginning to grip him that whatever he said next could make or break pretty much everything and the fact that he had to make this decision under Craig's securitizing gaze not helping his tangled thoughts to organize themselves at all.

"I-I mean," he began at last, still not certain of what it was he was going to say, "Y-you know, night and s-stuff. It's dark, I-I don't sleep well, it's n-nice to w-wake up and see s-someone there, that's a-all." Again, he found himself holding his breath as he waited for whatever response that may earn him, almost collapsing in relief when Craig first nodded slowly, then grinned.

"Think I know what you mean." He admitted, standing to take his plate and leave it on the kitchen counter, as-per Mrs. Tweak's strict house rule of 'no guest should have to clean' before turning back to his friend, "You let me know if I'm bothering you though, yeah? It's good of you and your parents to let me stay, I don't wanna cause any problems, not to my best friend, hmm?" He grinned again at that and of course Tweek was powerless not to return the gesture, albeit briefly.

"S-sure Craig," He managed, grin becoming a smile as he spoke now as he willed his entire being to calm itself again, "Promise." That seemed to satisfy the slightly older teen for now, him simply nodding before checking his watch then rolling his eyes, Tweek's own gaze shifting to the clock mounted on the wall almost automatically; Eleven-fifteen. "You start work at midday, right?" He asked, glad for a subject change as Craig sat back down and drank the last of his drink.

"Yeah, should probably leave soon, the boss likes us to get there early for some stupid reason, I dunno." He shrugged. "You working today?" Tweek nodded, still sipping at his own drink, it was always a good idea to make slow-work of a drink when you were faced with the possibility of needing a distraction, he had found.

"Four 'til ten." He replied eventually, Craig taking in the information and thinking it over for a moment before speaking again.

"I finish at eight, should I come by and keep you company? Can walk you home then." He grinned, that grin that if it had been aimed at anyone else would have seemed cruel, but Tweek knew how to recognize a fake grin and a real one, "I know how you hate walking back in the dark all alone" Tweek scowled at his friend, not meaning it anymore than Craig had meant harm by his own comment, really just glad to have some sort of normality back.

"Talk like that and you can say goodbye to your free coffee and muffin, Asshole." He replied coolly, causing Craig to laugh his real, oh-so-rare laugh and in turn, Tweek to smile. "But yeah, come on by, it'll be pretty dead by then I guess." And truth be told, Tweek really would rather have someone else to walk back with and even as he sat and thought about it there and then, he could not think of anyone he would rather it be than Craig.

xox

For a Saturday, work at the video store had been slow. Not that Craig minded that, it gave him some extra time to get his homework out of the way and get paid for doing so into the bargain.

By the time seven-thirty rolled around, he had finished all but his English paper which he could not do anyway – the teacher had assigned them partners and he was paired with Wendy, the pair having agreed to work through lunches until the work got done – another thing Craig did not mind, he hardly ate at school anyway. In all honesty, he had been all too glad for a distraction during the past few dull hours, his mind seemed to keep defaulting back to the way Tweek had been acting all morning.

It was unlike him, in a way he could not quite out his finger on, which bothered him and made it even harder to look at subjectively. He had played through the events of that hour they had spent together before he had left for work over and over through-out his shift and had come up with nothing he could really explain. Just that his best friend clearly had something on his mind and that 'something' he did not want to talk to him about. The very idea of all the things that could mean made him scowl – why would he feel that way? What could there possibly be that he did not feel like he could talk to his best friend about? After all, Tweek knew things about Craig that not a single other soul could even guess at, was that not enough to prove he was trustworthy? That he would not laugh or joke or yell or do whatever the hell it was keeping him from just talking about it?!

"Don't get it..." He muttered, leaning forward on his stool behind the counter and resting his folded arms on it, moving to rest his head atop of those and letting out a sigh. He could always just ask Tweek when he got to Harbucks later, that had been another thought to have buzzed around his head for most of his shift, but ironically, he wondered if that was even true – could he simply ask when it was that obvious Tweek did not want to talk about whatever it was? That seemed a little rude, but also went against what he had been thinking – how they should be able to talk about anything – and so, he sighed again, barely looking up when he heard the back door open, knowing it was only Andy coming to in to take over from him when his shift finished. The guy was a bit of a jerk, if you asked Craig, but then again, he knew just how good at judging characters he was – the only person he had ever seemed to be right about had been Tweek, and... _Quit worrying about that if you're not gonna do anything about it, Christ!_

"Andy, hey." He greeted, finally pushing himself back to a proper sitting position with another, final (he hoped) sigh.

"Cramer, how's things?" Came his response as the other teen made his way in from out back, Craig just shrugged, not really up to talking at the best of time, let alone right now and to this guy.

"Been worse, man." He answered, making his own way out back to grab his coat and hat – he still have twenty minutes of his shift left, but what did that matter? He could hold a damn coat for that long without the world ending.

"Wow, quite an advertisement for the happy workers scheme, aren't you?" Andy joked. Craig grinned and flipped him off, he was not too bad a guy, he supposed. "You can go early if you want, I'll tell the boss you stayed, you look like you have way better places to be than here, anyway." The brunette was about to reply, when his cell-phone rang, he looked down at the screen and recognized his sister's number before putting the thing in his pocket – he could call her back after he left.

"You sure?" Andy nodded and waved a hand, taking over the seat Craig had previously been using, "Well cool, thanks." He paused for a moment, then reached into his other pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and taking two out, placing them on the counter, "Have a good night." He told the other teen who nodded, grinning his thanks for the smokes as Craig let himself out from behind the counter.

"You too, don't go causing too much trouble!" Craig waved his own hand at that, letting himself out and lighting his own smoke when he heard the door close behind him, pocketing his lighter and breathing in deeply.

"Heaven." He muttered, both hands making their ways to either jacket pocket now for warmth, and only when he felt the plastic of his cell did he remember he had to call his sister back. He rolled his eyes, retrieving the device and hitting 'redial missed call'. "Hey Munchkin, having a good weekend?" He asked on her answering the phone, knowing it was better not to give his sister a chance to speak first, he was likely to get an earful for not answering when she had called, otherwise.

"Oh, so you haven't forgotten all about me, then," she moaned, Craig rolling his eyes again and about to explain when she let him off the hook, answering the question he had asked, "But yeah, Emily's mom took us to Whistlin' Willies after our paper route, it was fun, she wouldn't let me pay though," a brief pause, "And I DID offer, before you yell at me." Craig chuckled at that, taping some ash into the snow before replacing the cigarette between his lips where it belonged.

"Am I really so bad?" He asked, but did not give her a chance to reply to that, "Just so long as you thanked Suze, I'm sure she was happy to do it."

"I did, I did" She told him, tiredly, "But what about you? You having a good time at Tweek's place?"

"Yeah, lots of fun," he replied, which was true – despite whatever the hell this whole 'thing' was, it had been a good weekend so far. "I'm just on my way to meet him at Harbucks, he's got another two hours left of his shift so I figured I'd go keep him company, give him someone to walk back with it." He paused himself there, he and his sister talked about most things, within reason, and so he did not feel weird about discussing his worries with her, he just wondered if there was any point in doing so. "He's be kinda weird though. Edgy, you know?" The line went quiet for a moment, Craig about to ask if she was still there when she spoke up again.

"Edgy?" She asked, clearly amused, "How can you tell?"

"Haha." He replied, tone complete deadpan, taking another long drag of his smoke, "I just can, okay? It's not his normal edginess anyway, it's like he's hiding something, it bothers me." Which was true, it did – he had told Tweek things no-one else knew, after all, the thought that the other could not trust him to do the same was more than a little painful, if he was prepared to be honest with himself.

"You two are so gay, keeping each other company, walking each other home..." She told him in a mater-a-factual tone, him about to ask just what that was supposed to mean when she let out a laugh, "Maybe that's it! Maybe he fancies you or something" The laugh became a chuckle down the phone at that, causing her brother to first scowl, about to tell her just what a stupid idea _that_ was, when he remembered the state in which Tweek had caught him in that morning and how things seemed to have gone downhill from there. Then he remembered what he had said over the kitchen table _'I like waking up with you there'_. He felt the blood drain from his face and his cigarette found its way to the ground where it hissed in the snow, forgotten. "Craig?" His sister asked, sounding a lot less amused this time, "You okay? I was just kidding!"

"Yeah well, it's not funny." He snapped, but no-where near as dangerously as he may have done, had he not been quite so floored by the picture emerging as his mind started to fit all these puzzle-pieces together.

"Jesus, fine!" She said back, her tone relieved, "You need to learn to take a joke a little better," she informed him, "And besides, you two would make a cute couple, Tweek's so sweet!" Craig sighed, getting over his shock a little now but still far from impressed at having to have this conversation.

"Yeah well, _you _date him, then." He told her, sulkily, this only causing more laughter from the red-head.

"Yeah, you'd kill me. Both of us, probably." He had to join in with her laughter at that, true without a second thought if it had been anyone else.

"No, Tweek's cool, I'd..." He was about to say he would trust him with her, when a thought hit him; Should he not be more bothered at the idea of his little sister dating anyone and not his best friend...? "Yeah, I'd probably kill you both." He finished instead, that pale feeling taking him over again. _How stupid, getting so worked up of a silly joke made by your kid sister..._ "Gotta go Munchkin, I'll call you later, yeah?" He said, stopping outside Harbucks and looking in through the big, store window. Tweek was leaning over a table not too far away, cleaning it with some sort of cloth. Craig knocked on the window and waved, Tweek waving back and adding a smile.

"Sure, you and Tweek have fun on your date, now!" He hung up – there really was nothing he could think to say back to that.

"Hey Tweekers." He called, deciding it would be better to simply get inside and wing it than it would be to stand outside trying to get his thoughts straight after the blonde knew he was already there. "Busy night?" He asked, making his way over to the counter and taking a seat at one of the stools, Tweek offering him another small smile as he joined him from the opposite side of the counter, cloth now sticking out of the dark green apron he was wearing – something of a uniform, apparently.

"It was earlier, but not for the last hour or so." He motioned toward a single couple sitting opposite one-another in one of the booths by the window, "That's pretty much it, but it's better this way – not on my own, not crowded, you know?" Craig smiled back a little and nodded, he knew enough about the other teen (his current problem aside) to know that much. "You want somethin'?" He asked, Craig letting his eyes wander over what was still left after the day's trade. "Muffin?" The brunette snapped his gaze over to Tweek at that and blinked.

"What did you just say?" He asked slowly, getting a confused look from his friend.

"I asked would you like a muffin." He frowned over to his friend, concerned, "You alright? You seem kinda... pale. You're not sick, are you?" The brunette could not help but laugh at that – how stupid he was being! This whole thing, whatever else it might be, was completely ridiculous.

"Nono, I'm fine, don't worry." He plastered on the best smile he could manage, surprised how easy that was, all things considered, "What muffins you got left?" He asked, a slight change of subject, as well as the idea of food, seeming like a good idea. Tweek just spared him a look that clearly said he did not believe a word and would worry anyway, but played along, fetching the muffin basket and looking through it.

"Let's see," he muttered to himself as he picked the basket over, "There's chocolate with chocolate chips, raspberry with white chocolate chips, cherry with almonds, blueberry or..." He held up the last one and read the label, "Lemon and citrus." He looked up to Craig again for his choice, the other not seeming to be paying any attention what-so-ever and that only causing more concern for the blonde. "Craig!" He called, glad when the other blinked, _at least he isn't dead...Yet._ "Did you hear me, man?" Craig waved a hand at the other teen dismissively.

"Yeah yeah – cherry thanks." He replied. "And a hot chocolate? In the mood for something sweet, I think." Tweek nodded slowly and handed over the cherry muffin, placing the rest back in the basket before wondering off to fix his friend's drink. Craig waited until the blonde was out of view and then brought his head into contact with the counter. "Such an idiot." He muttered, making sure to speak quietly enough so that Tweek could not hear, staying with his forehead resting on the cold counter top with a cherry and almond muffin in one hand until he heard the machine that heated the milk turn off and knew the other would be on his way back soon, sitting up and taking a bite from the muffin as casually as he could.

"Here," the blonde stated, setting down the other's drink in front of him and pulling over the sugar and a plastic stirrer, watching for a moment as the brunette poured sugar into his cup as if it was not already far too sweet for the blonde's own tastes as it was. He smiled slightly. "Something sweet is right," he remarked, "You want some hot chocolate with your sugar, at all?" The smile died on his lips soon after, the lack of a reaction from his friend only going to remind him that he was not acting like his normal self and that, in turn, returning the previous concern. "Craig?" He asked, lifting a hand over to the other teen, meaning to rest it on one of his own at first, before being stricken by a thought; _Maybe that was what this was all about? Maybe somehow Craig had worked it out, had seen through what he had been trying to hide and..._ He snapped his hand back again and sighed instead, "What's wrong?" He asked again, tone and voice quiet and that alone ensuring the other's attention.

"Nothing's wrong, I told you that." Craig repeated, with far less conviction than someone who was sure of his words should be. "Long day, that's all." Tweek nodded slowly.

"Okay..." He was far from convinced, though, the look on his face saying that much before he opened his mouth to speak. "It's just you've been really spaced out since you came in, I thought maybe something had happened or... Something." There was a slight tone of annoyance in his voice at that, there was something happening here and for whatever reason, Craig was refusing to say what. Ordinarily that would not be too unusual for the other teen, but after recent events it seemed off for a reason Tweek could not put his finger on.

"Me?" He asked, sounding almost amused, "You're the one who's been acting all..." He shook his head, "I don't even know, man! What was all that crap about this morning? You were edgy." Tweek blinked at that, was that simply it? Craig was worried about him because of the way he had acted earlier? That was all? "I thought we were friends, why can't you talk to me?" Suddenly, Tweek understood. Craig and his near obsession with trust issues. Him not telling the other what was wrong that morning. As unbelievable as most other people who knew the outwardly volatile teen would find it, Craig was hurt Tweek did not trust him enough to tell him whatever it was that had been bothering him. Simple as that.

"Craig..." He began, wanting to explain that there really as no reason for him to feel hurt, but stopping himself when he realized that he really could not tell him the real reason, not due to a lack of trust, a lack of courage, perhaps, but certainly not the other. "'M sorry about this morning, I-I didn't mean to worry or upset you, I guess I just didn't sleep too well, that's all, there really is nothing wrong and you know I would tell you if there was." He tried a smile then, Craig's sapphire eyes slightly narrowed to meet his own coffee-coloured orbs as he tried to gage if the blonde was being completely honest with him, "'S what friend do, yeah?" Craig continued to hold the other gaze for a moment, as if he were processing the information he had just received, before finally cracking a slight smile and bowing his head, shaking it a little as he looked now into the drink he held in both hands.

"Yeah man," He answered at last, looking back up to his friend again, the slight smile growing closer to a grin. "Don't worry about it, an eight hour shift running a dead video store gives you way too much time to think about stuff." '_And annoying younger siblings have a real knack for making you consider things you know aren't right – it's a bad combination', _he added, silently. Tweek smiled too now, nodding along to the other's words.

"Know that feeling all too well," he said, leaning himself against the counter with a sigh, "Still, sorry though." This time, Craig simply waved off the words, so long as Tweek was alright now and he had put his mind to rest about that other little... Detail, he was content enough. _It is, though?_ Something in his mind seemed to ask causing him to frown and wonder what on Earth that was supposed to mean. _Oh, you know very well_ Craig flipped the whatever-it-was off mentally. Whatever thoughts might have crossed his mind while he considered the possibility of Tweek actually liking him needed to be gone now, needed to be forgotten and put to rest for good.

Simple as that.

Not like he liked the blonde that way anyway – it had been more of a consideration as to how he would deal with a situation where Tweek felt that way about him, not the other way around. And that did not matter now, did it? He was convinced of that much for now, whether he thought this new-found conviction was actually founded or not...

"Want a top up?" The blonde asked, pulling Craig from his thoughts again to see his friend holding the metal jug he used to make the hot chocolate up in and smiling the cute little shy-smile he used every now and again. _You just thought cute, you know_ Craig forced his best smile.

"Sure man." He replied, pushing forward his half-empty cup, "Why not?"


	5. Chapter four

**Authors notes – **This chapter has been a complete pain to write and I have edited and re-written parts over and over more times than I can count and I STILL don't really like the way it turned out - it's kinda jumpy and skips ahead a lot at the start but that was important to get the story moving so... Bah! Anyway, sorry it's taken me so long to update, aside from the issue I already mentioned I've had with this, I was also sick the whole of last week so I hardly turned my laptop on at all. Sorry to be back with such rubbish, but the next chapter is already half-way written and I am hoping it will be much better than this one. Enjoy!

**Chapter Four;**

Things went on that way for a while; Craig staying at Tweek's place over the weekend after the two of them walked Ruby to her friend's. Craig was actually starting to enjoy the time he was spending with his best friend, and his family too, not that he did not enjoying hanging out with Tweek anyway normally, but somehow that edge of what he saw as some form of weakness from letting someone actually help _him_ for a change seemed to have dulled considerably. Going back _there_ on Sunday night's was something he had come to dread more than he ever had before, not that his parents seemed to care if he was about or not at the weekends (they were rarely there themselves, after all – _why would they care?_) it had become less about the going back to a place where he should be safe (_but wasn't_) with people who should care (_but didn't_) and more about leaving Tweek. After all, he was used to his parents after so long, he had at one point wondered if having time away from them was worth the having to go back.

Of course now he knew different.

Being at Tweek's house, his _home_, was worth whatever price he might have to pay. And he had paid. The second weekend he had spent away from 'home' he had come back at nine that Sunday night to find his mother sitting on the sofa waiting for him. A glare on her face and a bottle in her hand.

He did not tell Tweek. Nor did he show him the bruise which ran length-wise over his ribs on his right side and looked suspiciously like a foot-print.

He would only have worried.

But at the Tweak house, it was different. It was nice there, full of the good feeling his own house lacked. He could almost relax there.

_Almost..._

The 'almost' came into play thanks to a certain progression of feelings, not that either teen was aware of what the other was thinking, as was the way of most teenage boys.

Still, they hung out as per usual, watched movies, played video games and chatted through the night when sleep was a long time coming and for the most part, it was good. Fun and relaxing and _safe_ and good. Craig thought he could get used to the whole thing, was starting to wonder if he could even get used to the feelings and maybe do something about them too, but for now he was simply too content with this rare feeling of openness (hidden feelings aside, which was a little ironic, he supposed) to say or do anything that might put all these things in danger.

_End. Of. Story. _

It was during one of these late-night talks that Craig came up with the perfect payback for these little escapes – The Kooks. Craig had no idea what his blonde friend was talking about the first time he had mentioned the British band, but the next day, Tweek had bought his ipod along to school and let Craig listen through as much of their album as he could during lunch period.

They were not bad.

And they were touring the US next month, Tweek had said.

And they would be coming to Denver, Tweek had added.

He would have liked to go, but... _'Too much pressure.'_

Craig had nodded along with his normal-for-school disinterest, looking thoroughly bored at his best friend's continuous ramblings on the subject. When he got 'home' though, he looked up the dates they were playing and found a show at the Ogden Theatre with tickets left. He could make it that far on his bike. Tweek probably would not like that very much, but he needed to get over his stupid phobia of what was, in Craig's eyes, one of the most amazing forms of transport ever made. He thought they could probably do far more interesting things with their weekends if Tweek would just learn the machine was not trying to kill him... He had booked the tickets there and then, noting the finishing time and the very likely event in which Tweek would refuse to ride on the back of 'suicide on wheels' in the dark, and opted for booking a room at a near-by hotel. Maybe it was a little extravagant, maybe more than a little 'gay', but as far as Craig was concerned, Tweek deserved it and once Craig put his mind to something, more often than not, it was going to happen.

Of course, he did not let Tweek in on that small detail until the weekend before they were due to go.

'_Jesus CHIRST, Craig! I can't do that! I can't leave town with you on the back of that _thing_ to go to a rock concert! No way! My parents won't let me! What if we crash? What if we get lost?! I just CAN'T Craig, I _CAN'T_!'_

To this, Craig had simply replied with;

'_Yes you can, yes they will, we won't crash, we won't get lost, you ARE coming.'_ And then sent him a look that said far more than words ever could, Tweek finally nodding, a slight smile on his face (obviously he was at least a little excited by the idea, Craig decided that meant) to ask his parents if he could go.

His smile was even bigger when he returned.

"Hey Tweekers!" Craig called out to the blonde as he walked towards the other's locker after school the following Friday, a grin stretched across his face as he met up with his friend, "You looking forward to our adventure tonight?" Tweek smiled back, looking forward to maybe, but far from relaxed about the idea of any of what had been planned. The ride up on 'that thing' was going to take a few years off of his life even if they did arrive in one piece for a start. Secondly, the idea of being packed into a small place with thousands of people at the concert was not overly appealing and finally spending a night in a hotel room with Craig had both its good and bad points.

Tweek decided the less he thought about _that_, the better...

_Aside from all that, though..._

"S-sure am!" He replied, best smile still in place as he shuffled his books between his book-bag and locker, Craig waiting although scowling now at the people who passed them by - smiles were precious and only for friends (_and loved ones_) after all.

"Craig man!" Token's voice came calling from a little way down the corridor, the addressed teen looking up and offering a slight smile accompanied by a nod. "Tweekers too, awesome." Tweek looked up from his careful shufflings at the sound of his nickname, blinked as their dark-skinned friend joined them, "I wanted to talk to you guys. Clyde's gone and got himself a ton of new downloads for Halo, you guys wanna hang out at mine this weekend and have a tournament?" Craig and Tweek exchanged a look, normally such an invitation would be accepted without a second thought, previous plans might even be cancelled for some quality friend-to-Xbox time, in fact - they may have been starting university next year, but video games were still the best way for four guys to hang out and catch up in a town like South Park.

"Can't, sorry." Craig answered, a look of real regret on his face while Token frowned at him then looked to Tweek who was now standing beside the brunette, books all sorted into their correct places for the weekend.

"Both of you?" He asked, Tweek nodded and offered a sheepish looking smile in apology.

"Y-yeah, Craig's taking me to Denver to see this band I like, so..." He trailed off, Craig nodding at his side for back-up – Token may have been one of their closest friend, but that did not make Tweek any less nervous about turning down an invitation from him.

"Sorry." He piped up, Token's frown began to transform into a smirk as he looked between his two friends.

"Fags." He told them, his smirk in full swing now, only moving to let out a laugh when Craig flipped him off and Tweek turned red.

"Fuck you, man." The former said coolly, this only getting more laughter from the other teen as Clyde spotted the three of them and made his way over, grinning at first, then frowning when he took in all the different looks on his friends faces.

"What did I miss this time?" He asked, the question getting no response. Clyde shrugged it off, changing the subject. "Did Token tell you about Halo?" He asked instead, "You guys in?" Craig was about to reply to that when Token beat him to it, that shit-eating grin plastered across his face and causing the brunette to scowl at him.

"They can't, they have a _date_." Clyde blinked at that, about to protest that whatever it was they had planned could be put aside for Halo, surely! When he picked up on the other word and gaped at his two friends, Tweek looking increasingly nervous and red while Craig just stared daggers at Token.

"Date?!" He repeated, tone just as shocked as the look on his face, "Since when are you guys dating?!"

"We're not." Craig informed, annoyed. "Token's being a retard." Tweek nodded enthusiastically at that, not normally one to bad mouth a friend, but still not about to let a good defence pass by when he was being offered one.

"Y-yeah, we're just going to Denver to see a band play, t-that's all." He added, not sure if that worked for or against them, but really just wanting out of the conversation – it was a little too close to true for comfort as far as he was concerned, and he was _sure_ if it went on much longer he was going to let something accidently slip and all hell would break loose. He was increasingly surprised that had not happened already, truth be told, so many nights spent so _close_ to the object of his affections (yes, he had admitted that much to himself, now. Admitted it and accepted it) was nerve-wracking. He hated watching _everything_ he said and the idea of lying to his best friend did not best please him either – not that the idea of _telling_ him how he felt had once crossed his mind. Oh no, losing Craig completely would be far more nerve-wracking. _Way too much pressure._

"Sounds like a date to me?" Clyde half-stated, half-asked Craig rolling his eyes as Token's laughter started up again.

"Think what you like, see if we care" He replied, flipped his two friends off before turning to Tweek, "You wanna walk back to my place so I can grab my stuff? We can go on to yours from there, yeah?" The blonde tried to tone down his smile at the reassuring look in the slightly older teens eyes as he nodded. "Good then." He told him, returning the smile, before looking over to their two so-called friends. "You guys enjoy your Halo weekend and tell me _that_ isn't gay now it's just the two of you and see if I believe you." That stopped the two of them dead, them exchanging looks, eyes wide before starting on the protests. Tweek chuckled while Craig just shook his head, "Not buying it." He said simply, moving to drape an arm around Tweek's shoulders, the blonde trying not to jump too noticeably at the gesture, using his new hold over the other to pull him into a walk away from their friends and on towards the school doors. "Don't forget to drop by the drugstore beforehand guys," he called back, his tone completely serious (and _loud_) even if there was a grin plastered across his face, "Always best to be safe" Tweek thought he heard Token yell that Craig could 'go screw himself' while Clyde stuttered something along the lines of 'not funny', but he was too lost in his own thoughts to be sure.

After all, if Craig _had_ liked him back in any sort of way, he would not have been making such jokes, would he?

xox

The two of them made their way back to Craig's place as they had planned, neither of them talking much and causing Ruby, who was walking between the two teens this time, to anxiously sweep her head from one side to the other trying to work out what was wrong.

"Did you two fall out?" She asked when their first stop began to roll into view, digging for her brother's attention more than Tweek's, she could get more information out of him and far more easily, she thought, "You've hardly said a word to each other since we left school, what happened?" Craig sighed loudly and flipped his sister off, she mirroring the gesture in his direction in the form of a response.

"Not that it has anything what-so-ever to do with you, Munchkin, but no – no falling out, nothing happened." That was true, he decided, maybe something _had_ happened, but he had no idea what and certainly there had been no falling out, so. "Just thinking about what I need to pack and stuff, that's all. Tweek's probably doing the same, right?" The look he sent the blonde made it impossible for him not to nod in agreement.

"Y-yeah. We need to l-leave in an h-hour s-so." He nodded again to end that half-voiced statement, following the siblings as Craig led them in a line to his front door and let them all inside, not bothering to remove his coat or shoes for a change, seemingly he had been thinking about nothing more than getting in and out again quickly. Tweek was not sure how he felt about that.

"Feel free to make some coffee or whatever," Craig called to him, already on his way towards the stairs, pushing his sister (who was still demanding to know what had happened) along in front of him, "We'll be quick." Tweek nodded again and stood on the mat by the door until the Cramer's were both out of sight before he let out a sigh of his own, moving straight to the kitchen in search of that promised coffee. He himself had not been thinking about what he should pack when he got home, he had already thrown a change of clothes and pyjama's into a back-pack with some toiletries and coffee the night before – he did not want to keep his friend waiting, not after he had been nice enough to make such a gesture for him. The blonde frowned at that, 'nice' was not exactly a word most would use to describe Craig Cramer, and where-as the two of them being 'best friends' meant that Tweek had never thought Craig was especially bad, it was an odd sort of thing for him to do – even for himself. He shrugged the odd, tingly feeling which accompanied the thoughts that always seemed to come when he tried to work out just _why_ the other would want to go through the trouble away, concentrating on his drink instead, _the caffeine will help me think._ It did not really matter why, he supposed, it was a nice gesture from a good friend to repay him for much of the same.

It was that simple.

He fixed his drink in something of a thoughtless daze, blocking out anything he did not want to consider from his mind in a well-practised art which he had acquired over many years of worrying and thinking way too much, drinking his coffee while leaning against the kitchen cabinet in the strangely clean room. He had always wondered about that too – how the Cramer parents managed to keep such a spotlessly clean living-space, all things considered...

"Yo Tweekers!" Craig's voice came from the next room, loud and strong, it not taking him long to work out where his friend would be and soon appearing the doorway to the kitchen. "All ready and packed, you ready to go?" Tweek nodded and downed the last of his drink and placed the cup aside just in time to catch the spare cycle helmet the brunette threw at him, he only catching it after a stumble and a yelp, the two causing Craig to laugh and Tweek to glare at him. "Come on, Ruby's outside." He nodded again, following along after his friend as he seemed to spend his life doing, and back out of the house. It took Craig little time to collect his bike which he opted to push alongside himself in favour of walking with the other two, chatting a little more this time although Tweek still remained largely quiet. Just why did Craig want to take him to this show, anyway? And stay over-night at a hotel? Was it, could it really be, a date? _Of course not,_ he snapped at himself, _Craig's not like that, he's one of the toughest kids in school, he couldn't be. _Tweek averted his gaze from the snow in front of him to cast a brief look to the other teen as he chatted with his sister – _he couldn't be, could he? Not Craig... _Although, stranger things had happened, especially in South park.

"Stop that." He muttered to that small, nagging voice in his head which seemed committed to ruin this trip for him. _This trip and this friendship, if I let it,_ Tweek thought dully and sighed again. They dropped Ruby off at her friend's house and went on to Tweek's, back to not talking again once the troublesome red-head had left them.

"You do want to go on this trip, don't you, Tweek?" Craig asked as the blonde stopped at his front door, searching his pockets for his key and almost dropping it into the snow at the suddenness of the other's voice. "I mean, I know you hate my bike and that being surrounded by so many people at the show won't be too fun for you, so like..." He paused, frowning in thought for a moment before shrugging and offering the waiting teen a reassuring smile, "If you'd rather stay here like we normally do, it's cool with me." He finished, Tweek finally letting them inside and calling a quick 'I'm home' to his mother before replying.

"It'll be fun, I'm looking forward to it." He told the other, turning to offer his own smile, "I trust you, Craig – I'm sure I'll be okay." He could feel his skin heating at those words, knowing that they meant more than what was implied to him and so taking that moment to run off up the stairs to collect his own bag of things. Whatever happens? Happens, he decided as he made his way back down the stairs again, bag in hand, to see his mother chatting to Craig easily – he liked how easy that seemed for his friend, it was good to see him feel so... _At home_ here – and after all, he did trust Craig, more than anyone else, he thought. "O-Okay, ready." He called, joining the two again and getting a hug and a kiss from his mother, complaining all the while as Craig chuckled at him.

_Whatever happens, happens._

xox

The ride to Denver ended up taking them longer than Craig thought, thanks to Tweek's constant freak-outs meaning he had to stop every few miles for a while and then spend the next ten minutes trying to talk the blonde into getting back on the bike again. He did not mind though, he knew Tweek truly hated his bike and the fact that he agreed to ride with him in the first place was a break-through. It was a pleasant enough drive, anyway – Craig always loved to ride his bike and with Tweek behind him, arms wrapped around his waist and clinging to him for dear life was certainly adding to the experience in only good ways. And _besides,_ he told himself, a mischievous half-smirk on his lips, _as long as we have time to check-in and eat before the show? Who cares. _And it looked they would manage that easily.

As he pulled up outside the hotel building, he was both disappointed and amused at the speed in which Tweek untangled his grip on him and practically leapt from the bike, standing a good two feet away from the machine and staring at it as if it could come to life at any second and come for him. Craig shook his head, retrieving his bag from where he had secured it to the back of his bike before turning to his friend.

"Told ya you wouldn't die, didn't I?" He told him, moving towards the main entrance and grinning as the blonde made a face somewhere between comical disgust and complete seriousness.

"Don't s-speak too soon," he told him, a slight smile pulling at his lips, feeling safer with every foot he and his friend put between themselves and the 'devil-bike', "We gotta get back, yet." Craig laughed as he held the door for his friend, _so Tweek._

Inside, Tweek's good-humour seemed to melt back to nervousness once again, letting Craig go ahead and up to the front desk, he following him, content to make as little out of his presence as he possibly could. Craig noted the change, but did not point it out – there was no point – and despite how annoying as some people saw Tweek's little habits at times, Craig thought the other teen was pretty brave to keep trying things despite his obvious fears. He actually looked up to him in a way because of his ability to face the things he was honest enough to admit being frightened of and, looking back, he found he had always thought that – he was only just noticing it now he was paying closer attention.

He had chosen a hotel over a far cheaper motel due to the blonde's nervousness – a hotel, he had figured, would make his friend feel safer and that was worth a little extra cash in his mind. But he started to regret this decision at around the same time the desk clerk informed them that due to the near-by concert being played, (the very one they would be attending themselves later, of course) their website had not been updated quite as quickly as it should have been and, in turn, because of that, the twin room that he had reserved was in fact taken and all they could offer the two teens was a double for the same price. Craig spared the blonde a concerned look – he had little choice other than to accept, really; they may have had time to check in and eat as things stood now, but they certainly did not to go around town looking for another room that was probably unlikely to be free anyways, thanks to the concert, and then make their way back here again only to find _that_ room was gone, too. Tweek shrugged, looking increasingly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the desk clerk and his friend, leaving the choice up to Craig who did the only he could and told the clerk that would be fine, but not before making a show of how pissed off he was while somehow managing to keep what he saw as both an extraordinary stroke of luck and a sign as to answer the question he had been asking himself for the last few weeks hidden from everyone else.

After all, he thought he was getting pretty good at hiding his feelings at this point.

He instead registered his debit card to the room and continued to make his (fake)displeasure known before accepting the key-card (snatching it from the unfortunate desk clerk and causing Tweek to flinch visibly as he already let his mind loose on just how painfully awkward sharing a bed with his best friend was going to be...)

"Come on, Tweekers, might as well make the best of this, huh?" Craig asked, a tone of forced amusement, Tweek assumed that was put on to make him feel a little better, although he failed to see just how the situation that had already gone from nervous, to pretty good and right back to nervous again any better. He forced a smile in response and followed the brunette as he made his way towards where the desk clerk had directed them, only pausing to flip her off, and opening the correct door when he reached it with a single swipe of the key-card and letting himself into the room, dropping his bag by the door as he did so.

The room was nice enough; passed the hanging space which ran on the left wall opposite the on-suit bathroom, there was a fitted unit along the left side of the wall with a TV, a kettle and a tray containing two cups and assorted teas, coffees and sugars. From the opposite wall, the double bed made its presence well known, dominating the room, a bed-side table placed either side and by the window, a sofa with a small coffee table at its centre. Craig turned to watch Tweek as he left his bag with Craig's and made his way inside the room a little more, he was starting to wonder if maybe this was not such a great idea. The trip, the show, the hotel and certainly _not_ the 'I like you' part. He decided to try and ignore this for now, not seeing what he could do to help the situation and instead made his way towards the sofa, crouching down in front of it and tilting his head as he tried to work out just how the thing was supposed to work... "They_ said_ the sofa pulled out," he reminded the blonde, talking to himself more just to hear _something_ than anything else while frowning at said sofa. Tweek simply stood by the now closed door to their room, continuing in his loud silence over this newly arisen problem (_I cannot share a bed with Craig. No way! NO. WAY._) "But if it does, I'll be fucked if I can work out how..." He added, kicking the defiant piece of furniture before flipping it off then turning to Tweek. "Sorry man, unless you wanna try, it looks like we're sharing." He tried what he hoped was a non-threatening, friendly smile but wondered if that came across when Tweek flinched noticeably, colour rising slightly to his face and causing Craig to wonder, once again, if the words his sister had spoken in jest well over a month ago really could be true. Was it worth finding out? Could he actually find the words to _ask_ such a thing of his best friend? "You alright, man?" He asked instead when Tweek still refused to speak, walking over to take a seat on the bed on the side closest to where Tweek stood. "If it's that big a deal, I'll sleep on the sofa as is, it's cool, you know. You don't have to freak out about it." That, he realized, probably sounded snarkier than he had meant it too, but far from wanting to make a point of that, he simply waited for the other's response. So he was a little let down by the reaction, he was allowed to be slightly annoyed, it was normal to feel a little rejected after such a...

"N-no, it's o-okay, y-you don't h-have to do t-that." Craig blinked at Tweek, who was still blushing more than a little, but also forcing a some-what awkward smile now too, "W-we can s-share." The brunette nodded slowly, letting his own smile show as he patted the bed beside him, motioning for his friend to sit down.

"Cool. Be way more comfortable than that _thing_, anyways." Tweek nodded back, sitting as asked, his previous paralysis forgotten for the time-being at least, and that was good enough for Craig. He supposed the next big thing to decide was just _why_ Tweek had changed his mind. Of course, there could be many reasons – including not wanting Craig to have to sleep on an uncomfortable sofa after paying for the room but not wanting to do so himself, for whatever reason that might be (with Tweek there was ALWAYS a reason, Craig had found) so he tried not to let what he _wanted_ the reason to be cloud his judgement. "So" He began, looking straight ahead to the nicely painted sailboat picture on the wall, "You, err, thinking about what Token and Clyde were sayin', yeah?" He turned back to his friend then, offering another smile, but this one was both understanding and reassuring, causing Tweek to again, nod.

"I-I g-guess..." He admitted, only offering a very slight smile himself, far too embarrassed that his friend had almost read his mind perfectly because yes, whereas he may not have been thinking about what their two friends back in South Park had said, he had indeed been thinking along their lines of thought because of the way he felt and... "Sorry." He muttered, looking away from Craig, afraid that maybe if he looked into his eyes he would be able to see what he was still desperately trying to hide.

"Hey man, don't be sorry – it's cool." He assured his friend calmly (as was the way the two of them worked best, he knew) taking his aversion to look at him again for partly what it was and draping an arm around the blonde's shoulders in a hug, "Just don't let what those retards said ruin this trip, yeah?" He added a smile then, finding that above all things, there really was no question over how he felt for the other teen now – not with just how badly he needed to see him smile and knowing just what he was willing to do to make that happen.

"I-I won't. Promise." Tweek almost whispered, that slight, ever so shy smile slowly creepy its way to his lips as he looked up to Craig through the tangle of crazy, blonde bangs; the other teen's relief easy to see at this small gesture, not that he cared. Tweek knew him. REALLY knew him, and he not only did not care, he was glad for that small thing.

"Good then." He told the other, pulling him more tightly into the hug for a second before letting him go. "You wanna get some food? I think we have time." Tweek's smile grew a little at that as he nodded – with what could have been a rather stressful situation more-or-less dealt with, he was starting to feel the beginnings of a need for food.

"Sure. But I'm paying a-and if you complain? Y-you will be s-sleeping on that s-sofa tonight." He tried to grin, to show he was joking, but he was almost certain of his failure. This was so stupid! His best friend was doing a nice thing for him, and he was messing it up with nerves and self-destroying feelings that could not possibly...

"Earth to Tweek! Hellooooooo!" The blonde snapped back to reality at his friend's call.

"Huh?!" Tweek asked, surprised - blinking over to his best friend as if the other had suddenly jumped out at him from nowhere. "W-what?" Craig frowned, that previous good feeling at the blonde's smile gone and back in its place was that worry once again.

"I said if you insist, then you kinda spaced out." He repeated slowly, watching his friend carefully as he spoke, all the time wondering if maybe he had said something he should not have, or if something he had done could be seen as the wrong way or...

"Oh." Was his only response, causing Craig to shift a little to face the other better, Tweek himself only seeming to stiffen nervously at the action and again sending Craig's mind off down an uncharacteristic path of worry.

"Come on, man. Talk to me." He said simply, his voice soothing and low, the way he always spoke when he knew Tweek needed him for some sort of relief from his tortured, worrisome mind, the blonde seeming to recognize this, shaking his head.

"N-no really, I'm f-fine. Nervous about t-tonight, I guess." He stood and flashed Craig a smile, he had noticed such an act seemed to quiet the other teen considerably, although he never let himself wonder just way. And besides, that was hardly a lie – he was nervous, just not for the reasons he had implied. "Come on, l-let's get dinner, might h-help my nerves s-some." Craig nodded slowly, eyes narrowed in concern, but pulled himself up and made his way to the to where Tweek stood at the door, determined not to make whatever was worrying Tweek worse.

"Sure."


	6. Chapter five

**Author notes; **FINALLY. I am so sorry this took so long, I have sat down and tried to write this for over a month, but if it don't wanna come? What can you do, I guess... I ended up really liking this chapter, though. I use way too many '...' but I like them! You can probably see that XD The tense changes a little at the concert part, but that was intentional and there was something else, but it's REALLY late and I've been working on this ALL DAY and I wanna get this posted before the internet dies AGAIN. Just sorry it's all taken so long and I hope you'll all enjoy

**Chapter Five;**

They ate at the hotel restaurant, Tweek only picking at his food thanks to the combination of an over-crowed eating space and the only spare table being right in the middle of the room, he seemed to have lost whatever hunger he had managed to build up with yet another attack of nerves and anxiety. Craig did not seem much better either – he ate his food, but hardly spoke while he did so, more interested in watching more cars and people arrive through the window which offered a grand view of the parking lot.

Tweek went from watching Craig ignore him a little too obviously to be anything else, to poking at his food, not really eating, more just cutting bits up and pushing them around the plate in random patterns while he waited for a bomb to drop on the building and save him from this torture. ANYTHING had to be better than this...

"Oh, Jesus..." His mutter causing the brunette to look over and frown, asking without saying a word what was wrong, and if it had been anyone who had not known Craig as well as Tweek (_used to, at any rate_), they would have thought how casual the whole act was. Tweek smiled slightly. "Out of coffee." He explained, lifting the pot at the centre of the table and shaking it as if to prove his point. Craig nodded, tried to smile, failed, and went back to staring out of the window, leaving the blonde to solve this problem by himself.

He carried the pot up to the bar, there were no staff anywhere else and he needed caffeine like never before if he was going to deal with anymore of this stress.

"C-could I get a re-fill for table sixteen, please?" He asked when the barmen came over to him and gave him an odd look – he hardly looked the age he actually was at eighteen, so there was no doubting this guy was about ready to laugh him back to Craig's side should he ask for actual alcohol – and that look only intensified when he held up his coffee pot, waving it around for no real reason. In fact, Tweek would have probably been too nervous to even walk over there if his mind had not been on something else entirely. "My f-friend's right there," he pointed in Craig vague direction, relinquishing his death-hold on the coffee pot only after the barman tugged at it a couple of times and once it was out of his hands, finding all his courage gone, "I'll... Be right back." He said, eyes once again back on Craig, even as he made his way to the restroom, having no idea why he had said that last part to the barman in the first place...

Back at the table, Craig let out a quiet, annoyed sigh; This trip was supposed to be his way of thanking Tweek for his help. He hated to feel in debt to anyone, least of all his friends. For some reason that even he would concede made little to no sense, that was the worst of all. He was a burden, him and his problems, and you do not reward your friend's trusts and loyalties with burdens – that was just wrong.

Even more so when one of them was Tweek Tweak. He had enough problems and worries without him adding to them, that was not what a good friend did. A good friend kept his mouth shut, his ears open and his fists at the ready, just in case. That was what he had always thought, at least.

"Here's your coffee." A voice called to him, his eyes narrowing to a frown before he had even turned to see who it was talking to him, because he knew that voice sure as hell was not Tweek's and who else would want to talk to him? And about coffee, too...

"I didn't ask for coffee." He replied stupidly, noting the odd look that received from the waitress who was now standing there, pot of coffee in hand.

"Your blonde, err... _Friend_ did, he said he'd be right back and to just leave it here." She replied, standing there as if she were waiting for something while Craig continued to frown, obviously not in the mood for dealing with random strangers. _Nope, having more than enough trouble dealing with my best friend..._ He did not like the way she had said 'friend', either – as if she was saying one thing and meaning another.

"Well?" He snapped finally when it seemed as though this woman was not going anywhere any time soon, "Put the pot down and I'll make sure my '_friend_' finds it when he gets back, alright?" He used air-quotes on the word friend to show that he had not missed her own way of saying the word, sending her his best scowl and delighting in seeing the colour rise to her face as she realized she had been caught out.

"Certainly." Came her curt response, and she set the pot down. Craig offering her no more than an overly fake smile.

"Thank you." He said, waiting to for her to turn away after registering his thanks with a small nod before muttering about what a retarded bitch she was. Really, what was wrong with some people?! They wanted you to pour out your life story to them or something?! That was beyond stupid and retarded...

"Craig?" Now that voice he knew to be Tweek's and on hearing it, his frown and annoyance melted away instantly. "You alright? You look... Mad." He added, tentatively, as if he did not want to _ask_, did not want to get blown up at but simply having to for some reason – really the blonde was just that desperate to have something, _anything,_ to say and he supposed that was a little more than crazy.

"The staff here are all morons." He replied flatly, pouring them each a coffee from the freshly brewed pot, his features relaxed back to his normal expression of indifference now, which Tweek decided was better than nothing, smiling a thank you as his now full cup was pushed towards him, drinking down the bitter liquid in one go without either adding crème or sugar and afterwards only wanting to do the whole thing again.

He could not remember the last time he had been quite so wound up. Yes, wound up was a good word, because it was not just nerves, not anymore, it's was more like he was full on adrenalin waiting for something major to happen and until it did? Everything seemed to be in sharper focus. Every word seemed louder and every action more pronounced.

It was not a good feeling.

He poured his own drink the second time, and took a few, pressure seconds to add crème and sugar as well – along with a brief pause to look at Craig who was back to staring out of the window only this time sipping at his own drink as he did so – before he downed that cup as well.

He had almost been looking forward to this. Looking forward to it as much as he ever looked forward to leaving the relative safety of his home, anyway, and so far it had been one disaster after another. He appreciated the sentiment sure, but if he had not already been dreading the concert, at least to a point, as well as the ride back? He was now dreading what should have been a fun night up chatting to his best friend about their little adventure, too.

If he was going to be honest with himself – he simply could not wait to be back home again.

xox

They finally got back to their hotel room at close to midnight, Tweek having practically run the entire way there as soon as the cab they had been in had slowed enough for him to jump out, leaving Craig to pay and shouting to his friend that he still had their key-card so there was little-to-no point in running anyway...

By the time he had reached the room, Tweek was practically clawing at the door in a vain attempt to get inside while turning his head from side to side to check for anyone coming up or down the corridor with wide, terrified eyes.

The concert had been a complete disaster.

They had arrived late intentionally, Tweek had no interest in any of the support acts who were playing and he had even less of one to stay in a place surrounded by masses of people and loudness even more. That suited Craig, it was Tweek's treat anyway so he had little to no opinion at all on the whole thing.

Their timing had been spot-on – they made it to the venue just in time to hear the final support act leaving the stage, thus giving them a good fifteen minutes to find their seats and sit down while the lights were still up only...

That was where their good fortune ended.

When they found their seats, they also found two rather obnoxious teenage girls occupying them. Craig asked them in the nicest way he could manage (this basically involved minimal swearing and no giving the finger) if they would mind moving; 'You gotta have a ticket to get into this place, you must have your own seats', he had reasoned, but was only met with the argument that these seats were better, and what were they anyway, wanting to come see a bunch of guys singing?! Gay or something? Craig had glared at them, but as Tweek had worked out on his own quite some time ago – obsessed, teenage girls could easily match the glaring powers of Craig Cramer and so the tactic failed miserably. Eventually, Craig simply shrugged, and moved to stand in front of the two, show no signs of moving as they sworn and poked at him, the two of them finally getting fed up and leaving for their own seats, beyond pissed off, leaving Craig grinning stupidly over, what Tweek had thought, was a rather drawn-out victory.

While they waited for the show to start again, neither of them spoke, this only made Tweek more nervous about being there, surrounded by people and quite frankly wondering just how this was supposed to be, in anyway, fun. Craig did not seem to notice, sipping at a bottle of water he had gotten each of them on their way in and muttering under his breath about how much of a rip of that had been, the mere fact that he seemed ignorant to the blonde's panic, only feeding it more.

When the start did come, it came in a burst of sound before Tweek had a chance to register the dimming lights, this causing him to yell and jump to his feet, knocking the cola out of the hand of the girl sitting to his left and all over himself. This only went to panic him even more while the girl went ballistic at him for being so careless and was only subdued when Craig offered to cover her ten dollars for the drink if she 'shut the hell up and left his friend alone'. She gave Tweek one last glare before accepting first the proposition and then the money, Tweek beyond grateful to Craig, pulling at his sweater sleeve to get his attention before smiling a thank you, a gesture Craig returned and that was pretty much the extent of any real interaction between them for the entire time they were out.

The show went on and, for the most part, Tweek enjoyed it; The music was far better live than it was played on his stereo at home, he would concede to that much at the very least, but whether it was worth all the hassle and money they had gone through for such a small thing was something he was unsure he could justify. He spared glances towards Craig through-out; he looked bored, and so when the band left the stage for the first time, he tugged at his sweater sleeve again to grab the other's attention and suggested they leave to beat the crowd. There would be an encore, sure, but he did not care – beating the crowd was far more important in his mind so when Craig pointed this out and asked if he was sure, he nodded, trying to smile again but not quite managing somehow.

They made their way out just fine, Craig holding Tweek's hand so as not to lose the blonde and getting the odd weird look for leaving so soon – which he treated with a glimpse of his favourite finger – but not caring much beyond wanting out so that his friend could try and calm down a little; he knew the beginnings of a freak-out when he saw one coming, and the thought that all this had been his idea was not helping matters any.

Outside, he dropped Tweek's hand and almost immediately felt a shiver of cold run through him – lying to himself and saying it was the cold air had been surprisingly easy. He called for a cab and, despite thinking by leaving early they would avoid the rush, he found there was still a good thirty to forty-five minute wait, thanks to so many people booking in advance... So the two of them made themselves comfortable by the pull-in area and began their wait.

It was about this time when Tweek realized he had left his sweater behind, having taken it off since the girl next to him had decided to wash it in cola.

Craig had simply stared, giving him that 'you have got to be kidding me' look, the one Tweek was far too wound up to so much as even nod in response to in his current state, and so simply went along with staring back until Craig sighed and shook his head, moving to go back and retrieve the article only to feel a weight at him arm, the blonde clinging to him, eyes begging him not to leave him here with all these... People. Craig's expression softened at that, carefully removing his friend from himself - even if he secretly liked the way other clung to him, both in reality and metaphorically – before explaining that one of them needed to wait for the cab, that he would not be long and if anything bad did happen (_not that it will, so don't start, alright?!_) he had his cell phone. Tweek nodded slowly, grudgingly letting his friend go and watching as he jogged back the way they came, pushing past groups of people until they swallowed him up completely from his view. It made sense, he knew, but Jesus! He did NOT want to be waiting around this over-crowed, unfamiliar place on his own in the dark...

He had managed somehow.

Their cab ended up arriving early and this brought on another panic attack when he tried to explain that his friend had gone inside to get something and would be right back, could he just wait a few minutes? They would pay him and everything... The driver seemed less than pleased, even more so given the number of people coming up to the car and offering him all kinds of fares to take them right away and save the traffic that was sure to follow as soon as everyone's ordered rides turned up...

Tweek had practically thrown himself at Craig in hysterics when he did arrive back, sweater in hand. The brunette offered his friend a quick hug before thrusting the article of clothing at him and ushering him into the back of the cab while he babbled wildly about _'the pressure!'_, himself following suit but only after showing his favourite finger some more and letting the cab driver know, in no uncertain terms, that he could kiss goodbye to his tip...

Once inside the room, Tweek made his way over to the corner furthest from the door and sat there on the floor, hugging his knees to himself and urging Craig to shut the door as quickly as possible. Craig had done as he was asked, a look of worried exhaustion on his face, before making his own way to where his friend was cowering and kneeling in front of him, hoping that he might, somehow, be able to calm the blonde down enough for them both to get a good night sleep. The day had been far from the stress-free, relaxing adventure Craig had hoped it might be, and if nothing else he could use at least a few hours of lying in the dark quietly.

"Come on man," he spoke in the soothing tone he saved for just such occasions, "You're safe now, they're out there and your safe in here with me – no-one 's gonna get you, alright? You're safe. You are safe." He repeated those last few words over and over, reaching out to place his hands of Tweek's shoulder's when he thought the other could stand the contact without freaking out even more. He had done this a great many times before and it was always the same – only never before had it been all his fault...

This whole thing had been such a stupid idea. He could not even remember at what point in his stupid mind it had seemed anything but that, and yet, the whole process of being where he was now, hands on Tweek's shoulder, talking in that alien voice and trying to help his friend to relax, just a little... He could not help but feel like everything was as it should be.

He cursed himself mentally – how stupid was that?! The point had been to give Tweek a nice, relaxing break, not traumatize him to the point of a break-down then spend the night on his knees trying to make up for the fact! (_Well... Fuck, shut up!_) In short – when he had decided he needed to pay his friend back for everything he had done for him, he had not meant it to end like this, as much as he supposed it was some form of payback...

He bit back his annoyance at himself though, instead focusing only on Tweek and waiting for his words to have the effect he was sure they would, meeting Tweek's nervous glance up at him with a reassuring smile when he finally managed to lift his head.

"You good?" He asked, Tweek taking a deep breath and letting it out in an uneven sigh as he nodded. He looked embarrassed now reality was catching up with him and he could see that Craig was right; They were safe now, no-one was getting in, everything was going to be just fine.

"S-sorry." He muttered, looking away from Craig's gaze now, the brunette frowning briefly before taking back his hands and standing, only to offer away a hand again to help his friend up. "I always s-seem to ruin e-everything, huh?" He tried an awkward chuckle there, the sound coming out as pathetic as he felt as he took the offered hand and got to his feet himself, releasing his own grip only to find Craig refusing to do the same and for a split second, all the nervous anxiety jumping right back into him...

And then Craig's arms were around him, hugging him close to himself and his hand was his own again. Not that he noticed, far too wrapped up in the warmth and comfort the other was offering in the form of the embrace he was now also wrapped up in. Slowly, shyly - with his heart pounding so hard and loud in his chest that he was sure he was going to ruin this moment too, this gesture of friendship, certain that Craig would either hear of feel it - he moved his arms to hug him back, figuring that was the best thing, the only thing, he could really do because otherwise? Craig was going to let him go and move away and...

Tweek really did not want that.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry." Craig spoke, his voice now a whisper, but certainly more his own than the soothing tone had been. The fact that Tweek had hugged him back told him that this, at least, was okay – he had not crossed any lines just yet so this was fine. "This whole thing was a stupid idea, I should have just bought you a life-time's supply of coffee or some damn-thing to say thank you." His attempt at humour came off a whole lots better than Tweek's previous try had, the chuckle was real and Tweek smiled into his friend's chest, breathing him in, the scent of cigarette smoke, motor oil and laundry detergent – the scent of Craig, pure and simple.

"Thank me?" He asked, confused as he replayed the words in his mind, what on Earth had he done? What was it he needed to be thanked for? "I didn't do anything, did I...?" Craig laughed out loud at that, briefly hugging his friend closer before releasing him completely, Tweek finding himself both disappointed and unsure of what to do with himself, now.

"You do plenty and it's gone un-rewarded far too long." Craig informed him, watching for what reaction that got him for a moment before sighing and making his way to what was to be their bed for the night, falling down onto it and lying back, eyes closed. "You're a good friend, Tweekers. The best. I wanted to show you that I appreciated that but surprise, surprise! I fucked up." He shook his head, his hair becoming a mess of knotting strands as it rubbed against the sheet on the bed, "I'm sorry." Tweek only blinked back at that. He knew Craig had this issue with being helped, with opening up and actually having someone other than _himself_ know what was in his mind, but...

To want to thank him? It was hard to understand why Craig would want to do that. Probably because, as far as the blonde was concerned, he had enjoyed every second of helping him. He did not often get the chance to repay all the good Craig had done him in all their years of friendship, so this was not only a good opportunity, but fun as well.

Christ! That sounded bad... Finding out your best friend was being beaten by his mother and actually _enjoying _what came from it... He tried to shake the thought from his head, knowing he had not meant it that way and trying to reason that he had not said it out loud anyway so it hardly counted. Finally giving up and sitting down on the edge of the bed near Craig's head, and letting out a sigh.

"You don't have to thank me, Craig." He spoke softly, surprised at how certain his voice sounded and how sure of his words he was for a change, "You're my friend, I like to help. I _want_ to." He looked over to see Craig's eyes open again now, open and looking up to him, surprised. "'S what friends do, isn't it?" He finished, nodding in reply to his own question because yes, whatever else he was feeling for Craig – or thought he was, at any rate – they were friends and that was what this was all about, that was why he had been there in the ways he had – friendship.

"Yeah." He replied, moving to sit again, facing away from his friend as he did so. He was right, was he not? Friends did that sort of thing for one-another, made each other's lives a little easier as and when they could, that was their job.

_So just what the hell has all this been for?!_

He gritted his teeth, his hands forming fists around handfuls of bed linen as he tried to calm his anger at himself before trying to speak again. After all, had he not already caused Tweek enough panic for one day? Probably enough for a whole year, the way it had all ended up falling apart. He was not about to scream and shout on top of all that.

"Craig?" A small voice from behind him called, causing Craig to turn back and finding all that anger he had previously been trying to get under control simply vanish at the look of worry on Tweek's face as he looked over to him, "D-did I say something wrong?" It was all Craig could do not to laugh out loud at that. There was this sort of fearless honesty about Tweek, he had found over the years; Yes he was scared of most people, places and things, but somehow, that made him fearless about simply saying what he was thinking.

"No man, not at all." He assured the blonde, finding himself grinning far more easily than he would have thought thanks to the other's mere presence, "You're right, I was just thinking about... stuff." _Yeah, stuff..._ "That's all." That was far from all, he knew, but what could he say? Now more than ever his plan to talk to Tweek about his feelings had all-but been dismissed, the only thing keeping it at the fore-front of his thinking was that when he stripped all the layers away, all the lies and acting and reputation, the real reason he had done all this was to do just that. To tell Tweek Tweak that he, well, that he at least liked him more than a friend should.

He could rationalize _that_ until the second coming, and he was pretty sure he would every time come back to the same conclusion; He had to say something and stop all the lies. He just did not want to cause any more upset after such a... Trying day, and there-in lay the problem

"You wanna order something to eat before bed?" He heard himself ask before he had even been aware that he had been thinking such a thing, "Since you didn't really eat much before" He added, feeling dumb and that, in turn, frustrating him once again – until Tweek smiled and nodded, that was.

"Maybe something small." He contemplated, taking the menu Craig handed him and glancing through the 'snacks' section, "Some fries?" He asked, nodding to himself when Craig shrugged, "Yeah, I think some fries and ketchup would be nice." Craig did the honours, making the call and asking for some real coffee while they were at it; '_You_ must _have a peculator in this place! An extra big mug of whatever's in that. Make that two_.'

Tweek listened while his friend argued with whatever response that had earned him, before searching through his bag for his sleeping clothes and motioning to his friend that he was going to the bathroom, Craig simply waving him off and continuing to inform whatever poor person who had ended up answering the phone to him that he did not care if 'normal' people did not _want_ coffee at gone midnight. Maybe _he_ was not normal, did they think of that? He was a customer, and they were always right...

Tweek took his time washing up and changing, he was starting to feel more than a little nervous at the prospect of sharing a bed with his best friend, his _crush_. Jesus, this whole thing had been such a bad idea... Not that he did not appreciate the gesture now Craig had explained it to him, but the whole thing was way too much for him to handle. The ride, the concert, the _bed_...

_Way too much pressure._

Most of all was this over-whelming urge to simply reach out and take what he wanted. Not that he would, Christ! That was even more pressure than everything else that had happened that day combined! But the feeling was there, like dancing butterflies in the bit of his stomach, and Craig only needed to smile or touch his shoulder or _something_ and off they went, fluttering all over the damn place... It was like having his own personal Sword of Damocles hanging over his head, waiting for a single moment of weakness to shine through and **WHAM!**

Goodbye friendship

He shuddered. He was not going to let that happen.

No, he was going to go out there, eat his fries and talk about nothing and then just... Lie there, in bed, not sleeping and not doing anything else.

Yes, that sounded like a good plan. Like the only plan, really because...

"No," he muttered to himself, catching his reflection in the mirror above the sink as he spoke, noticing how his eye brow's arched down into a frown over his coffee-coloured eyes, "I'm imagining things, there's no way he could..." But _was_ there? Maybe there was, a slim ray of hope that maybe, just maybe, Craig would actually thank him for coming right out and saying... Whatever it was people said in these situation, Jesus! He had no idea... He shook his head, again watching in the mirror, trying to look more normal – normal for him, at any rate – before walking back out there because whatever small chance, whatever tiny sliver of hope there was, it was NOT worth risking everything for.

He was ready now, resigned to his fate and at peace with it. Friends and nothing more, that was what they were, just friends and nothing...

_Craig's topless...?_

The brunette heard the bathroom open and turned just in time to give Tweek a rather nice view of a well toned and nicely tanned torso (_how the hell does he manage to get and keep a tan in South Park?! This so isn't fair!) before_ his own sleeping shirt was dropped down to cover himself, still it taking Tweek a few moments to recover and... What had he been saying about it not being worth the risk, again?

The blonde only smiled weakly when Craig met his gaze, sure he was blushing profusely, he looked down to the floor and made his way back to where he had left his bag, dropping his clothes in the same vicinity while willing his colour to fade again before he had to actually sit down and talk to his friend.

"They said the food would be up in ten to twenty minutes," Craig spoke, causing Tweek to jump, his thoughts at that moment having been about as far from their little room as they possibly could be, "Apparently, no-one wants to make coffee at midnight." He shot Tweek a good-natured grin, "Wonder why?" Tweek tried to smile back, but he could feel his face burning still, there was nothing he could do to make it stop, it would seem. "You hot or something?" Craig asked as the blonde sat back down, "Your face is all red. You're not sick, are you?" Tweek shook his head, trying hard to avoid the other teen's gaze as he purposely tried to catch his own, trying to read what on Earth was wrong because certainly a guy did not go that colour unless he was sick, or...

_Or..._

"I'm f-fine, j-ust tired. Been a long d-day." He tried to explain away, but the look Craig was giving him now was passed concerned and onto contemplative – Tweek somehow found that look a little unnerving, although those damn butterflies were at it again. Jesus! If they did not quit it, he was going to end up being sick or something and what a wonderful ending to a fantastic night that would be...

"You're blushing." Craig said, simply. His face a picture of seriousness as he spoke, blank of any clues as to whether he thought this was a good thing or not, Tweek only gaping back at him, frozen with a sort of fear to the spot.

"What?!" He asked, as if he had not heard what had been said, as if he was not merely trying to buy time, to think up some excuse to...

"Yes you are," he continued, tone just as serious as before, "You came out of there, saw me changing, and now you're blushing." Panic, pure and simple. Tweek's eyes were wide with it as his lips moved soundlessly trying to find both his voice, and the right words to get out of this before Craig got really mad.

"No! I w-wasn't! I m-mean, I-'m not! I-I..." The was as far as he got, his frantic denials being all Craig needed to confirm what he had thought, what he had hoped, and once that was done, there was nothing left to stop him from leaning over and gently joining their lips. After all, if a kiss could traumatize someone who did not like you, getting one from someone you liked had to be a good thing, did it not? Tweek's eyes remained wide for a second or two as he processed what exactly was happening, and then he relaxed and let them close, taking in the feel of having Craig so close, his lips brushing his own lightly as he tried to work out just what he was supposed to do back because if he had not wanted the hug to end, he certainly did not want this to, either... Tentatively, he let his arms reach around the other teen, pulling him closer to himself as Craig had already done, before eventually responding to the other's lips, moving his own in time with Craig's and trying not to over-think too much in case he ended up missing out on something.

"Room service!" A call came through the door, a rapid knocking accompanying the sound and causing both teens to jump and pull a little away from one-another. Craig took a deep breath to calm himself, then glanced at his watch, his expression darkening at what he saw there.

"That was NOT fifteen minutes!" Craig snapped, still with his arms around the blonde he had just been kissing who yelped at the sudden explosion of sound. "Come back later!"

Silence.

"Sir...?" Came his reply from beyond the door, clearly confused, causing Craig to sigh and roll his eyes, finally releasing Tweek and moving to get the door, snatching the tray hard enough to cause the two giant coffees to spill into the plate of fries and kicking it shut again before the guy had a chance to say a word.

Tweek, once again staring with wide eyes at the other's reaction, watched as he placed the tray on the side and turned back to him with a soft smile, as if the outburst from a few seconds ago had never happened.

"Now," Craig spoke softly as he sat back down next to the blonde on the bed, the slight hint of a smirk on his face, "Where were we...?"

xox

Tweek's previous thoughts would be banished with that. He would not again wonder if the risk he was taking with his 'best friend' was worth his possible loss until he already had his answer and by then, it would be too late for him to change his mind...

ooo

**MORE notes;** Another quick note because I didn't wanna ruin the end by putting this at the start but yay! They're together now XD I hope it didn't seem too rushed or anything...? I want to get into the REAL plot of the story, but I had to get them together first, so... Yeah, lots more to come! We're probably not even half-way through yet!

Please don't hate me...?


	7. Chapter six

**Author's note;** FINALLY! I am, SO SORRY this took so long... I have certain medical issue which have made writing incredibly hard lately, but you're need here for MY life story, just for my Creek so I would go on about it, just enough to apologize to you all. Umm, I liked the idea of this chapter, but while I was re-reading it, I thought it seemed really lame and kinda sappy so I can only hope I'm deluded from a lack of sleep, although I doubt it... Meh, sorry if they seem ooc – it's all part of the process, guys! If you have ever dated anyone, you'll understand XD Also! Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors – I DID check this, but it is very late here, I am very tired and my boyfriend is singing Queen song (badly) in the kitchen, so! Enjoy.

oxo

**Chapter six;**

Tweek was not looking forward to going to school.

Well, part of him was not at the very least. The weekend had been... Tweek still did not have the words for exactly what it had been and he had been looking for them for most of the night and all of the morning. He was amazed how something that had started out so terribly and had at more than a few points made him want to do nothing more than to just leave and come home, had ended in the way it had.

_Maybe there are no words?_

"Pumpkin?" Mrs. Tweak called to her son, who had been sitting at the kitchen table with his fingers wrapped around his coffee cup for the last five minutes without so much as having taken a sip from the drink. "Did you have a good time with Craig?" At the name of his best friend (_boyfriend?_) Tweek snapped his eyes up to see his mother had sat down opposite him at some point. "I didn't even hear you get back, it must have been late." She smiled that weird, all-knowing mother smile as she took a sip of her drink. That smile always made him nervous. He lifted his coffee to his lips then and drank the whole thing down in one go, placed it back on the table, and poured another.

"S-sorry, Craig dropped me off just before midnight, we ended up hanging around in town more than we were planning to, so we didn't leave until... Late." He told her, finding he had no need to force a smile there – thinking about the weekend was enough to summon a real one. "But yeah, it was fun. Sorry I didn't call to say I'd be late, I didn't worry you too much, did I?" Mrs. Tweak chuckled, shaking her head and this time Tweek thought it was all genuine.

"Oh no dear, I wasn't worried." Tweek frowned a little at that – sure he was glad he had not worried her, but it seemed odd for her not to be even a little concerned. "I knew Craig would take good care of you, he always does, right?" Tweek blinked, she was doing it again – that look. She knew something, or at least she thought she did...

"R-right..." He replied, downing his second cup of coffee before pouring the rest of the pot beside him into his thermos to help him through-out the day – all of a sudden he found he was more than a little eager to get to school. "I'm gonna go catch the bus now, don't want to be late." He told her as he stood, pushing the chair back and picking up the bag that he had propped up against the table leg. Maybe he would face more of the same questions when he got home again later, but he could worry about that then, _and probably all day until the time came, as well..._

"You go pumpkin." She told him, reaching over to where Mr. Tweak had been sitting before work to take the paper that lay there, flicking through the pages as her son slipped his shoes on at the door and collected his coat, "And Tweek?" She called, having waiting for his hand to be on the door handle before speaking again, "I'm glad you had a good time." For a moment the blonde simply paused, not knowing exactly what to say and feeling suddenly guilty that at his eagerness to leave.

"Thanks mom," he replied, a smile in his voice as he spoke – yes she could be a little smothering at times, but he knew she was a better parent than so many others and she was happy he was happy, so... "I'll see you tonight, alright?" She smiled over to him and he returned the gesture. Yes, there would be more of the same tonight, but maybe that would not be too bad.

"Bye, dear." Tweek only offered his mother a wave as he let himself out and closed the door behind him – what more was there to say, anyway?

The walk to the bus stop was not far, and Tweek quite liked being one of the few people he knew who still used the old bus to get to school. Token had his own car, Clyde got a ride with his mother who worked for at the school in some way or another and Craig... He felt that smile growing on his lips again, he was going to have to watch that. If the mere mention of his name was causing such visible reactions, God only knew what seeing him and talking to him would be like...

Still, Tweek would not have minded if the brunette - who now may or may not be his boyfriend - still caught the bus, he figured that might be quite nice, in fact. But no, Craig walked with his sister every day. He had no idea why, they needed to leave a good forty minutes before school started to make it that way and Craig did have his bike now-a-days, but it was something he had done ever since middle school and Tweek was sure he had his reasons.

Craig normally did.

The blonde stood a little away from the queue that was forming at the stop – elementary and middle school students, mostly – and took his first sip from his thermos. Normally he could at least make it to school before he caved to the hot, bitter liquid that offered a calming wave of contentment but with his head full of Craig and the brunette no-where in sight? He found it all-but impossible to resist. The high school bus came first normally, sometimes it was the middle school one, but not often. The high school started at eight-twenty, the earliest of the three, so it made sense. Not that Tweek thought much about it – one of the few things, he supposed.

At eight, his bus arrived. By that time, a few other students had arrived too, but Tweek kept his distance – even as a senior, he saw no need to push ahead of his younger peers, he preferred to wait his turn. The ride did not last more than fifteen minutes, and as the bus pulled up outside South Park high, Tweek's face lit up to see a certain brunette leaning against the entrance to the school smoking.

This was enough for the normally shy teen to push his way through the rest of the students on the bus to get out first, a smile creeping across his features as Craig spotted him, smiling himself as he threw out his cigarette and made his way over to meet the blonde. So, however things were destined to change now that the two of there were... Closer, he supposed, Craig was at least eager to see him. That had to be a good sign, did it not?

"Hey Tweekers." The brunette greeted, smile broader than his regular-for-school grin, pausing about two feet away from the other. "You good?" Tweek nodded, his smile growing more shy now, unsure as to what the other was thinking and that making him more than a little nervous. He did not want to get to close, obviously, but he had waited for him -he had stayed to see him despite them not having any classes together today, so...

_A good sign, stop over-thinking, don't ruin this!_

"Y-yeah, real good." That made Craig's smile return and with it, a million memories of their weekend together when Craig had been simply himself; not this inscrutable person he became when other people were around and that made Tweek feel warm all over. "Mom talked to me this morning, asked if we had a good time..." He left the statement there, his smile saying more than anything else he could think of would.

"She wasn't pissed I brought you back so late, was she?" He asked, a look of real concern crossing his face, Tweek chuckling at what had to be a rare show of emotion.

"She said you always take care of me so she was fine, really." He paused then, wondering whether or not to add any more to it before deciding that why not? Just thinking about it all day was going to eat him alive so he might as well just get it over and done with now... "It's n-nice. That she t-trusts you, I mean." He was starting to have a re-think now – maybe he could deal with the thoughts and the worry and just enjoy this feeling of contentment as long as it lasted? Yes, maybe that was exactly would he _should_ have done but hell, it was too late for that now... Giving Craig one brief look before turning his gaze to the ground, hands tugging at his coat, sure that this was the only way he could go on, the only way _out_. "I-I don't think she'd m-mind if she found out we w-were together... S-she might even be... H-happy about it, I g-guess." He spared the other teen a quick glance, taking in the look on his face caught somewhere between surprise and astonishment.

"Well, I thi..." The bell rang then, the sound – even though he probably should have expected it – pulling his attention away from the conversation for only a second or two, but that was enough to break the moment and give him an excuse to change the subject, leaving Tweek even more anxious about the situation than before. "Come on man, we better get to class." He offered an apologetic smile there, casually placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder to make him move towards the main doors of the school. He caught the look of disappointment on the other's face though, feeling bad and squeezing his shoulder briefly before letting go, adding in another smile as they reached the front stairs. "We can talk later, alright?" Tweek appreciated the gesture - it was a lot coming from Craig after all – and nodded, smiling a lot less enthusiastically but still, it was there.

"Sure Craig." He managed, Craig taking that response to mean that everything was alright and moving ahead of him to get through the door, Tweek following along behind the teen who was... Whatever he was to him now and trying not to look too let down by the reaction he had gotten from him for what, even he would acknowledge, was probably just his over-active and worrisome imagination.

What had he expected, anyway? He wondered as he made his way through the quickly filling up corridors, for Craig to suddenly change everything he was just for him? For him to greet him with open arms, unlimited kisses and then hold his hand the hold damn day? He had trouble thinking of a single other guy in school who would do that.

_Well, except for Kenny, but that didn't count..._

He shook his head, annoyed at his own stupid mind for torturing him this way and not letting him just enjoy himself for once in his God-damn-LIFE...

"Tweekers?" Craig's voice pulled him out of his thoughts as he reached his locker – his and Tweek's were right next to each others, Clyde and Token's as well, as they had all been together the day they were issued – recognizing that maybe what the other was saying and what he was feeling may not be the same thing. "I mean it, man – we can talk about it later, at lunch, we can eat in the classroom and maybe..." He would have said more, wanted to, he found, but the rest of their little quartet had joined them.

"So," Token greeted, that shit-eating grin back in place from Friday – Tweek wondered if it had been plastered to his face the entire weekend... "You guys enjoy your romantic get-away?" Craig glared and flipped his friend off.

"It was good, they..." He paused for a moment, a look of contemplation flitting across his face, thoughts going back to his conversation with Tweek moments before, and deciding what the hell? "They messed up our room, we ended up in a double, but the show was pretty cool. You enjoyed it, right Tweekers?" The blonde blinked, amazed at that admission but despite having started the whole thing, he tried not to look too visibly traumatized, thankful for the gesture but rather hoping they could have talked such things over in private and not offer any more details of their weekend to their friends just yet, at least.

"Y-yeah," he stammered out, hardly noticing his own words and certainly he felt he had little-to-no control over them, it was like having an out of body experience. "L-lots of f-fun." The look on Token's face had faded considerably at their words, as if he was not sure if they were joking around still or not. Clyde stared between the two, confused.

"Seriously man, that is so gay." He announced finally, as if that were all he really could say, whether the two of them were messing around or not. Craig's glare became one of anger at that, Tweek flinching visible at the change which he picked up right away - _dear God! I shouldn't have started this and I REALLY shouldn't have said that! Now he's gonna hate me even more! Oh Jesus! I gotta get outta here... _Desperately, he tugged at Craig's sleeve, not sure what he was hoping to accomplish, just something to make him feel a little less... Bare in front of his friends, and when whatever that might have been was taken away from him as the brunette yanked his arm and its' covering sleeve away... He could not take it.

"I-I g-gotta g-go." He stammered out, muttering an apology to the end of that before bolting away from his friends, away from the angry tension and to someplace safe. _Any_place... Craig followed his departure with his eyes, a longing there to follow, but not just yet.

"Yeah? Well, so what if it is?!" He snapped at the two of them instead, more interested in putting them in their place so he could after Tweek than what he was saying or how it might sound, "You act like it's all such a big fucking deal and call yourself friends?! Screw you, alright? I gotta go find Tweek." He did leave them then, jogging down the corridor, letting Token and Clyde wonder just what was going on in his wake.

He found the blonde in the bathroom, just like he knew he would. Tweek hated confided spaces, he wanted to know he could escape at any time if he needed to, but after one such escape, he tended to head for the smallest place he could find – he also liked to hide. "Tweek?" He called, coming to a stop at the only closed stall in the room, "Come on, man, they were only kidding around, you don't need to get upset." He spoke the words gently and with an affection in his tone that showed just how much he cared if the other was upset. Maybe that was what got Tweek to open the door, Craig smiling down to him as he sat, hugging his knees to his chest, on the closed toilet. "It's alright, who cares what they think anyway, right?" Tweek gave him a side-ways look, clearly still a little untrusting.

"I-I care w-what y-you think." He muttered, holding the other's gaze just long enough for it to be noted before hiding his face back between his knees once again. Craig frowned at that, not quite understanding the meaning in the other's words. Had he done something to upset him? He played back through the conversation in his head... He did not _think_ he had... Instead, he moved into the stall to knell on the floor, wrapping his arms around Tweek as he had done in bed that night, holding him close and searching for the words to make all this better.

"You know what I think," he told him, voice quiet and tone low as he spoke, "I told you Friday night and again Saturday morning. You think I'm so fickle as to change my mind about something like that?" He tried a chuckle there, but the worry in him made it sound wrong, "I care about you, man. I care a lot." Tweek looked up again at that, studying the other teen's face for any trace of a lie and deciding that no, he was telling the truth, although really that did not make any sense...

"B-but..." He began, voice wavering with upset, he cleared his throat and tried again, "You changed the subject when I was talking about us being... together. And you were angry, I saw it! You were angry after I said I'd..." He looked away, a little embarrassed, "H-had fun w-with you." The look of relief that flooded Craig's system at that made this second chuckle work much better as he pulled his arms more tightly around the blonde.

"Not at you, Tweek. At them!" He explained, pulling back so that the other might see his brilliant smile. "I dunno, maybe they were just fucking around, but it pissed me off, them talking down to you like that." He leaned down to rub noses with the other, "Like I could ever be mad at you." He whispered, moving to capture the blonde's lips with his own at that, sealing his words, not moving away when the kiss was over, instead opting to rest his forehead against Tweek's.

"R-really?" He asked shyly, as if the kiss had not been enough to assure him of that. Craig only smiled nodding to reaffirm his words, that finally getting a smile from the blonde, Tweek moving his arms to wrap around the other teen. "A-and before? When you changed the subject?" Craig shook his head, his smile betraying his true feeling on the subject.

"I'm an insecure asshole, you've known me long enough to that much, man." He leaned closer, rubbing the others' nose with his own in an Eskimo kiss, "A lot's happened and real fast, I just didn't wanna mess anything up by saying something stupid that might end up hurting you, that's all." He let out a brief burst of laughter, "That worked out well, huh?" Tweek chuckled lightly at that, suddenly nuzzling close to the other's chest, smiling happily.

"Yeah well, I can talk – me and my stupid paranoia." He pulled back a little at that and looked up to the other teen, "Sorry." He whispered.

"It's cool," the brunette told him, hugging him back for a moment before pulling away with that smile still on his face, "Just so long as you're alright now, yeah?" He grinned and stood, holding out a hand to pull the other up with him. "We'll take things slow, see how it goes, okay? You don't need to worry." Tweek smiled a little more easily now, nodding along to Craig's words as he helped him up.

"Okay," he agreed, happy to have any immediate pressure removed although 'we'll see how it goes' was hardly a phrase he was happy with, "Thanks, Craig." He told him, meaning it because he knew the other was doing his best, despite it not helping all that much. Once he got his feet, he wrapped his arms around the dark haired teen, nuzzling at his chest and finding that yes, that at least did help a little.

"Sure." Craig told him in his normal, casual voice, moving his own arms to hug the blonde back and placing a light kiss a-top his head before releasing him again, "Now, we gotta get to class." This time, Tweek thought there was a real sense of regret in his voice, "You wanna come over school? _They_ still haven't come home yet..." Tweek recognized the tone there as well and it was that which made him agree – he did not want Craig there alone in any way, shape or form with those people and sure, they were not there now but who knew when that might change? Tweek was not stupid, he knew he could never hope to protect the brunette, but maybe, just maybe he could do something...

"Alright, that would be nice." He answered, shy smile covering up his determination to do something, glad of the smile this got him in return from the other teen.

"Good then." He told him, reaching for the blonde's hand and giving it a quick squeeze to accompany that winning smile, "Now, try and stay calm, yeah? Anyone says anything – ignore 'em." The smile became a grin as he let go of the other's hand and clapped him on the back instead, holding the door to the bathroom open for him with his free hand, "I'll sort 'em out tomorrow." Tweek chuckled at that, taking it for the offer of reassurance it was meant to be and not bothering to point out all the trouble that could get him into... This was Craig's way of saying he cared after all.

"I wish you wouldn't but thanks, I guess." He said with a smile. "I'll meet you at the gate after school, alright?" Craig nodded, checking the corridor for any students before leaning in to give the blonde a quick kiss.

"Yeah." He told him before moving off towards his first class, leaving Tweek to just stand and watch, much preferring to gaze at the other teen as he walked away. So he would be late to class for once, so what? He smiled, the current view was more than worth it.

xox

Ruby waited at the main gates after school. Of course, she was waiting for her brother, although she had an idea Tweek would be meeting them too. That made her smile. Tweek had been around a lot more often since he had 'found out', as Craig had told her after the revelation had been share, and that made her smile as well – in her humble (although often very loudly acclaimed) opinion, Craig needed to quit trying to deal with everything himself and she really thought Tweek – as nervous and jumpy as he was – might at least be able to help him with that small part.

She checked her watch and let her eyes search the so-called playground for any signs of her brother, normally he was one of the first out and already it had been ten whole minutes... _Must have gotten in trouble again,_ she thought, a small smile coming to her lips despite how annoyed she was at the idea of him getting more negative points on his report card. Whatever, she was not gonna moan at him - he had seemed in a good mood that morning, that had been nice to bear witness to, and she did not want to ruin it. She had asked him about his weekend away while they walked to school but her brother had said very little aside from it having been a lot of fun and that he hoped they could do it again very soon...

Okay, so maybe she could admit, at least to herself, that was why she was so impatient for him to meet her – she wanted the low-down on his trip.

The more she thought about it, she hoped Tweek would be meeting them – he would be way easier to pump for information that Craig.

"Hey kid," he greeted with a smile, which she could not help but notice considering how rare that was for a school day, "Good day?" She gave him a side-ways look as he came to join her, then nodded slowly.

"Christy killed the class rabbit over the weekend," She told him, still watching carefully, "Got the slug pellets her mom keeps for the garden missed up with her feed and..." She made a face and Craig winced – what a way to go...

"Poor Flopsy." He said, shaking his head, "They gettin' a new one?" Ruby shook her head.

"Don't think so, I guess they'll say something tomorrow and..." She paused and frowned at her brother, "What are we hanging about here for?" The frown became a smirk, "Waiting for someone?" Craig gave her a look.

"Why else would we be waiting around this shit-hole for?" He asked right back, although he got the impression that she knew – or at least _thought _she did – more than she was letting on. Jesus, what crazy idea had she gotten into her head this time, he wondered. She seemed to make a hobby out of it – having crazy ideas and using them to cause him problems. Yeah, that had to be it. After-all, there was no way she could know the _real _reason they were waiting for Tweek – of course she knew it was Tweek, it was _always_ Tweek – because no-one knew about that.

_Right...?_

"Christ Ruby, what?!" He asked when her grinning gaze refused to leave him, the scrutiny making him more than a little uneasy and causing his tone to rise a fair few octaves higher and louder than was normal for him, not helping his case at all and only throwing his sister into a laughing fit at his over-reaction, Craig flipping his younger sibling off and trying to look unamused.

"Nothing, nothing!" She giggled as he glared at her, pouting and looking bad tempered and this only setting her off again, Craig rolling his eyes while he waited for her to quit it and remember how to breathe again, more than a little pleased at Tweek's arrival at that point, smiling a hello as he came over, the blonde returning the smile for just a few seconds, obviously both nervous and disturbed by the younger Cramer's current antics. Craig shook his head.

"I have no idea." He told him before the other had a chance to ask, leaving Tweek to nod slowly instead and turn his gaze towards Craig. "So, I need to kill anyone tomorrow?" He asked, smile becoming a grin as Tweek's eyes widened, having momentarily forgotten the other's promise from before.

"WHAT?! Who did what to who and why..." He paused, blinked, then sighed – he remembered now. "N-no, thank you, everyone was f-fine." Craig simply continued to grin, barely resisting the urge to reach out to the other teen - to hug him or squeeze his hand or _something_ – only stopped when Ruby spoke up, apparently back in the land of non-laughter once more.

"Can we go now?" She asked, nodding towards Tweek and giving her brother a look, "Now that your boyfriend is here, all safe and sound." At what he was sure was just an innocent joke from his sister's point of view, Craig's eyes snapped to the new comer to their group, a silent 'leave it' look on his face which the blonde may even have seen if his own look had not been one of absolute horror, his eyes practically bulging out of his head as he gaped at Ruby, then at Craig.

"YOU TOLD HER?!" He practically shrieked, hands shooting up into his mass of blonde hair, grabbing hold of fistfuls of it and pulling hard while Craig looked between the freaking out blonde and the excited looking red-head.

_Why me...?_

"Shut up, man..." He heard himself say before he even realized he was going to, not sure if that was the best way to go once the words were released into the world anyway. And Tweek, he did not seem to be actively pulling at his hair anymore, but that was the extent in which the problem had been helped.

"B-but you said! You said we weren't gonna tell anyone and..." Finally, the frantic look Craig had been directing at him sunk in and his hands lowered themselves from his abused hair. Tweek's eyes went wide for a further second or two before the blonde slapped his hands over his mouth while Craig looked for a near-by lamp-post he could bash his head against.

"Wait, what? You mean...?" Ruby began, not sure how to finish once she had started – it all seemed quite obvious and yet impossible at the same time. What was she supposed to say on such short notice? And the way Tweek was freaking out really was not doing much to help her think, exactly.

"Craig! I'm sorry! I thought you told her! I didn't know! I..." The blonde babbled, Craig now only concerned with helping his newly admitted to boyfriend to calm down. If he had hated seeing Tweek so wound up with upset before, it somehow seemed a hundred times worse, now.

"Calm down already," he told him quietly, his own tone calm as it always was in such situation, sure that this helped the other as much as the words he spoke and the comfort he offered, "It doesn't matter, yeah?" Tweek did indeed seem to relax at that, blinking up to the other teen, a pained look on his face that said he wanted to believe him but was not quite sure how – certain this was all a cruel joke at his expense, or...

"R-really?" He started to smile, started to believe, the relief flooding his system like a wave, "You're not mad at me? You don't mind...?" Craig chuckled, this time unable to resist the urge to touch the other in some way, opting for a not-overly-gay one armed hug around the blonde's shoulders.

"What did I say to you earlier about being mad, hmmm?" He reminded the other with a smile, "It's not possible, man." Tweek's smile grew at that, lighting his entire face as he leaned into the hold the other had on him, melting happily into his side as if they were the only two in the world...

"Umm, hello?!" Ruby called to them, sounded more than a little annoyed at having been more or less forgotten, "Is someone gonna tell me what that hell's going on?!" This grabbed both Craig and Tweek's attention, the former grinning while the later continue to look nervous while trying to hold his smile on his face.

"I thought you had already done a pretty good job of working that out for yourself, kid." He replied, offering no further information on the subject, his sister taking no extra time in filling in the gaps herself.

"You mean you ARE his boyfriend?" She asked her brother, he nodding his reply as he continued to grin at her. "And you are his boyfriend?" She then moved onto Tweek, the blonde nodding as well, his own shy smile very much present into the equation. "Well!" The girl stated, looking back and forth between the two teens for a moment before breaking into a grin. "I KNEW it! I did, I REALLY knew it! Didn't I tell you, Craig? I said, didn't I?!" Craig rolled his eyes and nodded, taking his arm back from Tweek now and using both hands to push his sister into moving down the street.

"Yeah, yeah; you're magnificent, now shut it, yeah?" He told her in a tired 'I'm humouring you' voice, "We haven't told anyone else yet and we don't wanna." Ruby made a face but nodded – she could understand, even if she herself did not see what the big deal was. It was not often the girl got a chance to help out her big brother and she was not about to let him down when she could.

"Spoil-sport." She grumbled, flipping her brother off and getting the gesture returned at her own expense, despite the fact that they both seemed far too amused to mean it. She would drop it, Craig knew, she would keep their secret because she knew why it needed keeping. Knowledge was power, in more ways than one, after all.

The two siblings talked amongst themselves as they walked towards the Cramer house leaving Tweek to think over what it was Craig had said – _we haven't told anyone else yet and we don't wanna_ – he thought he understood that more now, certainly he was less paranoid about whatever it was their relationship was becoming. It made sense, not to advertise their dating – South Park was a small town, everyone knew everyone, people talked and if Craig's parents knew...

Tweek shuddered at the thought.

Of course he was more than nervous as to what his own family would have to say about him having a boyfriend – his mother he liked to think would be okay with it, but that was all he could be even remotely sure of - but he had an idea that Craig's would say what they felt about the situation in ways that did not exactly involve actual words.

That thought made his chest hurt and he did not know why. It was like a twinge of pain, a tightening that stung and... Jesus! He did not want Craig getting hurt because of him. Not at all, but _especially_ not because of him.

He spared Craig a quick glance at that, worry clear to see on his face had the other looked over - he did not – he did not even want to think about what could happen to the other teen. He had seen already at least some of it and there was just something so horribly out of place to see it and _know_ the how and the why behind it – it simply was not the Craig he knew and cared about.

They kept walking at a slow pace, Ruby forcing them to stop at a store on the way and buy her some sweets, which Craig did without a word of protest, getting extra for Tweek and himself. It was a nice walk, the three of them chatting and laughing and if it had not been for the undertone of thoughts they were each wrapped up in – it would maybe have been perfect.

If that thought had not already been in his mind, the delusion was certainly shattered as the Cramer house came into view; The car parked outside advertising the presence of Craig and Ruby's parents to anyone who cared to see. All three of them stopped and looked at each other.

"Looks like we'll have to leave hanging out for today," Craig told Tweek with real disappointment in his voice, "Sorry man." Tweek only stared at the other teen, that familiar panicky feeling starting to creep over him as they stood on the sidewalk, flashes ahead in time of all the worst possible things that could happen and the very vivid, very real image of rose-red blood of pure white snow...

"Y-you should come to my place instead." He muttered, it taking all his self control not to just cling to the other teen and beg for him to do just that, Craig sparing Tweek a regretful look before turning to his sister, and... "Both of you can come! It'll be fine, mom won't mind, please?" No, she would not mind, he was sure of that – it may make those inevitable questions a little harder to answer when they came, even more so with Ruby there too, but sometimes you just had to deal with things. Was that not what Craig was always saying anyway? Craig looked back to Tweek at that, shared another quick look with Ruby and finally, let his eyes settle on the house up ahead. It would be like killing two birds with one stone, right? Tweek would be happy and Ruby would be safe... He smiled.

"Sure man, that would be cool." He said at last, Tweek looking visibly relieved at that and Ruby simply beaming. "Come on," he added, moving to take Tweek's hand in his own and give it a little squeeze – a little thank you – before dropping it again, "If we gotta walk to your place, we better hurry so your mom won't worry." Tweek nodded back, smiling for more reasons than he could rationally count right now, and followed along. It was all alright, for now at least – he had managed to stop whatever might have happened this time and he was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

_This time..._


	8. Chapter seven

**Author notes; **Jesus! I am sorry this has taken so long to post. I wrote the first 4,000 words in one sitting, but then it took me about THREE WEEKS to write the last 1,500 – crap, huh? Anyway, I hope you like my terrible attempt at smut! I'm amused that this is one WHOLE thing with no breaks, too! That's pretty damn awesome. Also? It's my sister's birthday today so I've been at her place ALL day and right now it's late and I am falling asleep so I'm really sorry for any grammar/spelling errors – I DID check this? But yeah, DEAD. I hope you enjoy!

xox

**Chapter seven;**

_Where the hell were you two?!_

_Out._

_Don't you DARE be smart with me you little asshole! I meant WHERE out were you and you know it!_

_And you care, why?_

_Don't talk back to your mother, Craig._

_..._

_You got something to say, do you?_

_Mom..._

_And you can quit your squawking as well! Damn ungrateful little shits eating up all my time and money and..._

_You EVER shout at her again it will be the last thing you do for one hell of a long time._

_How DARE you!_

_Craig!_

_Go to your room, Ruby._

_But..._

_GO!_

xox

The bruising around his left cheek and lower lip were not so bad by the time he had walked the forty minute trip to school with an ice pack which, as he had pointed out to Ruby, seemed crazy with the amount of snow in the air and on the ground. She watched him as they walked, sending worried glances towards his silent form as they went, but neither of them spoke, not until the school rolled into view and both could make out a messy-haired blonde in a dark green coat glancing nervously back and forth.

"Why'd you do it, Craig?" She asked, grabbing his coat sleeve to pull him to a stop before Tweek could see them and getting a more than a little confused frown for her troubles. "Things were getting better! We had a great day at Tweek's place and everyone was happy and you just had to say something, why?!" That outburst really did very little to help Craig's confusion.

"What the hell do you mean?" He asked, his voice sounding snappier than he had meant thanks to still not being sure why she was getting so upset over what was, at this point, a pretty normal turn of events, "She started it, she was yelling at you!" Okay, so maybe he had over-reacted. Just a little. But Jesus! He hated to hear that bitch talk down to his little sister like that! She was smart and brave and talented and she could make something of her life, he really thought she could, and he was not going to let anyone tell her otherwise.

_End of story._

"Jesus, you don't have to react to every little thing!" She tried to explain, the grip on his coat sleeve gone now and her tone of voice a little more calm. Maybe this time it had been her that had over-reacted but... Looking up at that bruised face and knowing Tweek's reaction and the subsequent blame he would put on his own shoulders because of it made it somehow far more important to make Craig understand before it was too late. "She's always yelling about something, I hardly listen anymore. You should have just left it and gone to bed and..." She motioned to the bruises, the original anger in her voice betrayed by the worry in her eyes, "Tweek's gonna freak out and that is your fault." Craig blinked at that, his gaze snapping to where the blonde was still waiting, checking the watch he never worn for some reason and instead kept in his pocket, sparing a worried look around for him because he knew he had to be late by now.

"Whatever." He replied, not caring, just wanting this little lecture over so he could go over there and tell Tweek it was okay, he was here, everything was just fine and he did not have to worry about a thing...

"Craig, don't, okay?!" The harshness of her tone snapping her brother's attention back to her, annoyed. "Don't ruin this because you have to have the last fucking word! It is not worth it and if you hurt him..." She trailed off, all too aware that what he did was always for her, whether it was right or not, and knowing that made her next words seem beyond ungrateful... "I will never forgive you, alright? NEVER." She stormed off at that, pausing briefly when she reached Tweek to offer a smile and a hello before turning back to flip her brother off and then going on her way. Craig held back a little, trying to process his sister's words and recover from the grade-a telling off before Tweek...

Too late, the blonde was already making his way towards him in a slow, shaking walk as if he were worried by the other's own hesitation to meet him that maybe he did not want to, maybe he really had done something wrong this time? Had upset him or hurt him or...

"Craig! What happened to you?!" It was probably at that exact moment that his sister's words sank in all at once; The look of hurt and worry and sheer panic on the other's face a far more effective way to hit home than anything she could have said, no matter how angry she had been.

_Fuck..._

"I don't feel like hanging out here today," he told the blonde, ignoring the worried questions that continued to babble from his lips as he moved to drape an arm around his shoulders and turn him back towards the way he had come from. "Cut with me?" It was not a question, more of a statement – Tweek knew that even if he refused, Craig would not set foot on school property today and that would cause him so much more worry than cutting probably would...

"B-but, if we get caught..." Craig smiled one of his lop-sided grins.

"Then we don't get caught, simple." He stated as if that were the most obvious thing in the world, his tone only changing to one that might better reveal his true feelings once Tweek's worried glace was back on him once more. "Please man, I don't think I can deal with that shit today. Let's just go hang out someplace, me and you, yeah?" This time, Tweek nodded, forcing a smile as best he could because even for someone so terrified of breaking the rules, a day with Craig all to himself did sound more than a little appealing...

"A-alright." He agreed, his own shy smile surfacing for real as he allowed his mind a sneak preview of what a day cutting classes with Craig could bring... That train of thought was abruptly derailed however when he let his eyes move back to the other's face and was reminded of the bruises there, the smile becoming a concerned frown, despite how happy his agreement to cut had made said other. "Tell me what happened though?" He asked quietly, he did not really want to know, thought he probably already did, like it or not, but he thought he needed to because well... They were in this together now, were they not? _Whatever 'this' might be._

"Mom again," he admitted with a shrug, "It's no big deal." He had a feeling Tweek would think a little differently on the matter, but he was not about to lie to him to save himself from it – he would not have before when they were simply best friends and he was not about to start doing so now, either.

"Doesn't look that way..." Came the almost inevitable response to which Craig simply smiled slightly and waved a hand as if batting the very idea away. It was nice that Tweek cared so much, he reminded himself so as to not end up annoyed at the constant worrying.

"Really, it's not." He told him, moving a little closer to the blonde, a quick glance telling him no-one was close enough to them to really see much of anything, and taking both the other's hands in his own. "You trust me, right Tweekers?" He asked, a manipulated move if ever there was one when compared with a gaze of sapphire eyes and that certain tone of voice.

"S-sure, but..." Tweek got no further than that, Craig squeezing the hands for a moment before leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek – another cheap trick, perhaps, but if it worked? Then it was worth it, in his mind.

"No but, sure was good." He explained, voice once again back to its normal, charming tone as he let go of one hand and used his hold on the other to pull him into a slow walk away from the school. "Come on, let's get outta here before someone sees us..."

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Craig closed his eyes and cursed to himself before turning back to see Clyde running towards them, panting a little at the over exertion jogging the small distance had caused, leaning forward to rest with his hands just above his knees, that position bringing his attention to his two friend's hands which were still joined, mind not entirely sure how to process _that_ information for now. "Where you guys off to?" He managed a cheeky looking grin around his re-capturing of breath, "School's the other way, you know." Craig dropped Tweek's hand and rolled his eyes towards his friend.

"Just one of the many reasons we choose to go this way, Retard." Clyde made a face that clearly said '_well dur_' at that, causing Tweek to smile just a little while Craig continued to look on in annoyance – at least he had not seemed to notice his new battle scars, he supposed.

"You're skipping?" He asked just to confirm and got a nod from the brunette before, "With Tweek, though?" He asked, nodding towards the blonde whose eyes widened a little at whatever hidden meaning there could be there. Sure it was Clyde, he was his friend and he could be trusted (_mostly..._) but he still wished he had Craig's hand in his again.

"So?" Clyde blinked at him, it seemed perfectly simple in his mind although he would concede that, friend or not, Craig's mind tended not to work the same as most other peoples did...

"Dude, Tweek doesn't skip class!" He explained, "YOU skip class all the time." He said, pointing to Craig as he spoke. "I do," he pointed to himself this time, as if these visual aids would help the other understand better, "Even Token has a few times but Tweek?!" He did not point to the blonde, simply half-shrieked his name and stared at him, neither of which Tweek liked.

"I-I can skip if I like!" He protested, trying to think of a time when he had done just that but not being able to think of one, beyond happy when Craig came to his rescue, slinging an arm around him and subtly squeezing the blonde's shoulder in reassurance. He did not miss the small smile that briefly graced his lips, either.

"'Course you can." He told him in a tone almost completely alien to Clyde, causing him to frown and pout a little when Craig's attention came back to him, looking thoroughly unimpressed. "You have a point, Clyde?" Did he? He was sure he _had_ had a point at the start of all this, but between the down-right confusing behaviour of his two friends lately, he was not sure he could remember what that point might have been anymore...

"Well no but..." He admitted finally, only changing his mind at the smug look that brought to Craig's face, "Yes actually! What the hell's going on with you two?" Craig smirked, hardly the reaction he had been hoping for.

"That's not a point, it's a question." Clyde stuck his tongue out at him.

"Oh, whatever! Just tell me! We're friends, right? What the hell's going on with you guys and why are you covered in bruises again, Craig?" That, however, did get at least some reaction from Craig; His smug look fell away to a look of contemplation. Clyde waited, knowing that was his best bet to get an answer, noting the look his two friends shared followed by a nod and a shy smile from Tweek and a shrug from Craig.

"Me and Tweek are together." The brunette announced, his arm moving down to hug the blonde now he saw no reason not to, Tweek nodding slightly as if to enforce the statement while watching his friend carefully to gage his reaction.

"You're what?!" He asked, his voice rising an octave at this new and entirely unexpected information, "For real?" Craig nodded patiently, a look of almost boredom on his face as Clyde split his glances between him and Tweek. "Umm, wow, I..." He paused then, eyes narrowing to form a frown, "That doesn't explain the bruises." He pointed out, grinning to himself as if he had uncovered some major conspiracy or something. Craig still looked bored.

"Tweek likes it rough."

"CRAIG!" Tweek yelped, hitting the other hard on the arm while Clyde gaped and Craig just shrugged his shoulders before finally breaking into a grin, and placing a kiss a-top the blonde's head, the action causing Clyde to make a face.

"Kidding, kidding. Jesus, you're easy." He told him, hugging him a little more at that, Tweek trying to look annoyed and indignant while he continued to blush profusely, only then noticing what the other's new words could imply and that just setting him off again.

"I'm what?!" Craig just laughed this time, something Clyde found a little unsettling as he watched the two of them with a new found curiosity. So they really were together. They were dating and that meant hugging and kissing and... Other things he was not quite ready to think about yet but above all it meant Craig less pissed at the world? That was just wrong.

"Tweek, man?" Craig asked, the blonde looking up to him at the sound of his name.

"Y-yeah?" He asked a little nervously.

"Be quiet." He gifted him a second quick kiss at that before turning his attention back to Clyde, one of his regular grins carefully fixed to his lips as he went to explain a little more about the other's observation, "It was a fight, that's all." Clyde nodded at that, glad for what he saw as some kind of normality in what was otherwise turning into a rather surreal day.

"Oh. Well, that makes sense, I suppose." He agreed, nodding along for a moment before his mind was once again taken back to the first admission – it still seemed to be having trouble sinking in. "And like... You two are really... Together?" He asked once more, Tweek recognizing the way Craig tensed up at that, he was getting annoyed and who could blame him really – there was only so many times you could repeat yourself before punching and screaming became the preferred option.

At least that was how it tended to work with Craig.

"Didn't I tell you that at the weekend?" Token asked, not even bothering to run to join the other three. "It was pretty obvious, guys." Clyde frowned.

"Was it...?" He asked, genuinely confused while Token shook his head to him before turning back to the newly outed couple and offering a grin.

"Congrats are in order, just don't fuck it up, okay Craig?" Craig flipped their coloured friend off but managed not too look too pissed off in the process.

"S-so... You don't mind?" Tweek asked, his usual nervousness forgotten in place of genuine curiosity. "That we, me and Craig..."

"That you're fags?" Token finished, this time Craig's middle finger was accompanied by the trade-mark 'I'll kill you' glare, both of which were ignored. "Nope. It's not like anything's really going to change for us, is it? We all hung out together all the time anyway so as long you two don't start getting down and dirty while we're around, there's really no big deal." He nodded over to Clyde then, who seemed to still be processing the news, "Although, knowing his choice of reading material, he might like that."

"Hey! I'm right here, you know!" Clyde whined, getting a sympathetic pat on the back from Token, despite it having been him who had done the insulting – not that Clyde seemed to notice.

"Yeah and unfortunately, so are we." Craig pointed out, turning to Tweek briefly, "We should go before we get spotted by someone more important than these guys, alright?" Tweek smiled and nodded, whatever Craig might have in mind for their day free of school, he was not exactly enjoying having Clyde and Token fire questions at him while he stood on the brink of playing truant and therefore technically breaking the law.

"Alright." He repeated, Craig untangling himself from the blonde in favour of taking his hand, seeming completely uncaring to what people might see and think now. His mind kept going back to Ruby, kept hearing her telling him not to ruin this, not to mess it up and close himself off and... Well, their best friends knew now, that was a big step, was it not? Yes, he decided it was. Tweek was happy, he was happy and so yes. It was all fine.

He really did not care much about the rest. A small lie perhaps, and one only told to himself because he knew that when his parents found out...

_Not if, when..._

"See you assholes later." He called as they walked away, Tweek offering an almost apologetic smile as Craig pulled him along, he was going to enjoy this free time with Tweek right now, he could worry about all that other crap when he was on his own later, after all.

"They didn't seem to be bothered by us, did they?" Tweek asked once they had successfully negotiated their escape out of view of the school, Craig only shrugging in response.

"No, not that it matters." He replied, offering the blonde whose hand he was holding a smile, "I mean, you're happy, right?" Tweek's face almost exploded into a smile as he nodded, causing Craig to chuckle at the over-whelming cuteness that was his now boyfriend, "And I know I'm happy, so screw them." Tweek seemed to think about this for a second before nodding his agreement, squeezing Craig's hand in his own – he liked the feeling of holding the others' hand like this, he liked the connection it gave them, it made him feel... Complete.

"I guess, but it's nice we can all still be friends too, right?" Craig had to agree with that.

"Right." He spoke, eyes scanning the street for people, and finding next to none – all the kids at school and the adults at work, he guessed, "They're good guys." And Craig thought they really were, as much as he would admit to being hardly what you might call friendly to them sometimes, he certainly cared more about them and what they thought than he was prepared to let on – even to Tweek.

He glanced over to the blonde then, his smile still lingering on his lips and cheeks still slightly flushed from the earlier embarrassment. He looked beyond adorable. Craig had often found himself thinking that in the times before he knew he might like the blonde in a 'more than friends' way, but of course back then he had never been able to do anything about it.

_Now, however..._

The brunette squeezed Tweek's hand a little, pulling his attention to him for a moment, before flashing an almost hungry grin and pulling him at an increased speed towards the delivery entrance of the nearest store he could see, dragging him a little way down the alleyway that led to it and out of the way of prying eyes before pinning him to the wall with his hands at his wrists, Tweek's eyes gazing up to him with eyes wide, questioning and panicked.

He could probably make a fairly accurate guess at what would come next...

"C-Craig, people will se…" The rest of his words were lost as Craig's lips crashed against his own, that familiar feeling of dizziness washing over the blonde and pushing rational thought away. The slightly older teen releasing the grip he had on the other, his hands sliding down the others' body as he deepened the kiss, Tweek responding now, kissing him back with a need he had been previously unaware he was capable of, not caring where he was anymore as he clung back to the dark-haired teen, opening his month, inviting the others' tongue to explore, returning the favour and savouring every touch and feeling.

"God Tweek…" The taller teen muttered as he pulled back from the blonde, panting lightly, resting his forehead against the others'. "Do you have any idea what you do to me, hmm?" He asked, almost purring as he ran the fingers of his left hand down Tweek's cheek gently, slowly. "I want to take you away from here and make you all mine." This time the words were spoken from his throat, sounding like a growl and causing Tweek to shiver then blink at him, uncomprehending of the dark-haired teen as he so often was, but with this new shift in relationship status at least having something of an idea as to the other's intentions.

He was unsure as to how that should make him feel, his traitorous body screaming at him to just go with it, for crying out loud! While his mind had a whole other answer ready.

"You want w-what?" He asked quietly, needing time to get his thoughts straight more than anything, not that such a task was even remotely easy with Craig as close as he was... That and now Craig actually had pushed him up against _something_ the daydreams kept merging with the reality until the blonde was not sure what was real and what was not anymore… The other teen smiled brilliantly, releasing his prey for a moment before re-capturing his hand, yanking him in close and whispering directly into Tweek's ear, his hot breath causing the other to shiver again.

"Are your parents in?" He asked, causing the blonde to frown at the seemingly unrelated question.

"N-no, dad's at work and mom normally goes to the store for groceries around this time, so..." That was about the time Tweek realized what it was Craig was getting at and wished he had thought first, spoken later, his best way out of this situation now cut off. "W-well, I-I don't think they'll b-be back for a-a while…" He added, trying to find himself some wiggle-room in his previous admission, although from the look in Craig's eyes all the 'wriggle-room' in the world would not save him now. That thought, as terrifying as it should have been, somehow did not have the panicking effect Tweek thought it would have on him and that, in turn, made him blush. "S-sure, my p-place…" He agreed finally, smiling back to the other teen, carefully entwining his fingers with Craig's, noting the slightly-surprised-but-by-no-means-about-to-argue look he was giving out. He nodded and squeezed the blonde's hand in his own, he thought he could get used to this.

They remained that way the entire walk home – joined at the hand and taking the slightly longer, slightly less walked, route back to Tweek's house, both willing to make the sacrifice of a swift journey in order to remain close.

_Yep, a guy really could get used to this._

Tweek let them into the house on their return and called out to his mother while removing his coat, just in case – the car had been missing from the drive-way so he figured it was safe but at the same time, you could never be _too_ safe in the world according to Tweek Tweak.

"N-no one's here." He announced, turning to offer Craig a nervous looking smile as he toed off his shoes, the brunette grinning back to him with a look in his eyes that only made Tweek more nervous. "Umm, you want a coffee?" Craig almost laughed out loud at that.

"Why would I want coffee?" He asked, an amused expression on his face as he moved to pull the blonde closer to him, Tweek's eyes as wide as saucers now as he tried to keep up with the other's thoughts and actions, "I can get all the caffeine I need without drinking a single drop of the stuff." That look was back – that piercing look that made a shiver run down Tweek's spine even though he was still unsure as to what it meant – and he was about to ask just what he was talking about when no sooner had he opened his mouth, Craig had been on him, lips on lips once again, taking the blonde's breath away both figuratively and literally.

Understanding suddenly did not seem so important, not with Craig's hands at his shoulders, gently pushing him back towards the sofa, urging him to sit and then moving again up to bury fingers in masses of blonde, wild hair all the time caressing the other's lips as softly as he could manage, only adding his tongue to the equation once they were both seated, rubbing small, circular patterns on the blondes' with his own at a far more relaxed pace than before when he had pushed him against the wall, and...

_REALLY shouldn't be thinking about that now..._

Tweek, though slightly timidly, moved his own hands to join around Craig's neck, still a little hesitant really but finding it hard to remember exactly _why_ may have been a better way to describe it... Whatever else he was thinking about in this situation – his mother coming back earlier, his father coming home for an early lunch, the phone ringing and whoever was calling somehow being able to _see_ what was going on – stopping the other teen and losing this feeling of want and being wanted was not among his top five list of things he wanted to do today.

Apparently, simply sitting on the sofa had not been where Craig's plans for comfort ended – his hands back to Tweek's shoulders, shifting himself a little first and then gently pushing the other back, breaking their kissing just long enough for the blonde to get comfortable before practically jumping on him again, this time with far less restraint than he had previously been trying to hold on to and Jesus! Tweek thought he should have something to say about that, but his tongue and lips seemed far too busy for him to even begin to form any arguments on the subject.

_Not even the top ten..._

The feel of fingers sneaking their way under his shirt resulted in a muffled sounding whimper into the brunette's mouth and brought the blonde's mind back to what was happening, his own hands seeming to move on their own to grab fistfuls of dark hair as he continued to wonder about what could happen and whether he should let it or not. Back at the hotel, things had not progressed further than this – simple kisses that, okay, may have grown a little more insistent here but then, they had not really had much time alone together since then and what did he expect, anyway? This was what people who dated did, after all.

_He's undoing my shirt..._

"C-Craig," he managed somewhat breathlessly after pulling back from the other's insistent kisses as best he could, face thoroughly flushed into the bargain and mind still trying to escape from 'feel' mode and catch up with 'think' instead, "T-this probably i-isn't such a good i-idea..." The frown on the other's more than a little disappointed face causing the blonde to re-think what he had just said and then shake his head, "No! No, I m-mean here – we should probably go... Y-you know, u-up to my room?" He tried to smile to the other with those words, but was pretty sure he did not do a great job – his own anxieties on where he knew this was heading and his want to go ahead with it anyway causing the beginnings of a headache to form at the indecision involved – but then, Craig was grinning at him again now, the look in his eyes easier to read now and telling Tweek that oh yes, going upstairs sounded just about the best idea he had ever heard in his short life so far

"I can live with that," he replied, gifting the blonde a far quicker kiss before pulling himself up and offering Tweek his hand to pull him along too, wrapping his arms around his waist and holding him close once they were both standing, "Much more fun than school hmmm?" He asked, his tone almost a purr in the blonde's ear and causing a shiver of anticipation to run to his spine. He was about to say something in response to that, not certain what, exactly, aside from agreeing whole-heartedly with what had already been said when a key in the door caused him to jump away from Craig, eyes wide with panic because even _if_ whoever it was had no idea what he had just been doing with the other teen on the sofa – or what he had planned to do next, for that matter - that still did not account for them being here in the first place...

"Oh my, Tweek!" His mother looked surprised to see him indeed, but at least it was her and not his father – he did not think he could handle some metaphor that was supposed to be about skipping class and would, no doubt, end up somewhere entirely different right now. "You startled me dear, what are you doing back in the middle of the day and..." She paused, frowned, then smiled. "Craig too, how nice." Tweek stared from his mother to Craig, hoping the later would offer some help dealing with the former and... _Christ! My shirt!_

"Yeah, sorry Mrs. T," Craig began, apparently only too eager to help out in any way he could, even if it did not involve the removal of the other teens clothes, "Tweek wasn't feeling too good, some kinda stomach bug the nurse said, and all my classes this morning are lower-level ones, I can catch up on them over the weekend, so I figured I'd make sure he got back safely." He gave the older woman one of his patterned Craig Cramer smiles there and she seemed happy, smiling back just in time for Tweek to finish fussing with his shirt buttons and catch it.

"You are such a good boy Craig, you take such good care of my son, thank you." Craig smiled again and waved a hand as if to say 'no problem' while Tweek tried not to smile himself, wondering just how good a boy his mother would think him if she knew just _how_ he had been planning on 'taking care' of him that afternoon... "Tweek dear?" He snapped his attention back to his mother at the sound of his name, "How are you feeling now? Do you want me to give Doctor Thompson a call?" The blonde shuddered at that – he hated seeing that guy even when he was sick...

"N-no mom, it's alright, I feel a little better now." He added a nervous cough for affect, "Maybe if I just go to my room and rest some it'll go away?" His mother nodded, then looked over to Craig.

"And will you be staying too?" She asked, noting the look of indecision on the brunette's face and making the choice for him, "You better had, I think, since you already came all this way." She smiled again then, a different sort of smile than the one before – this one clearly showing she knew a self-declared 'free day' when she saw one, "Go on up and I'll bring something up for you both to eat in a little while." She waved the two away and disappeared off toward the kitchen, Craig turning to look at Tweek and seeing maybe a different cause for Mrs. Tweak's leniency;

"Man, your face is all red, you sure you aren't really sick?" He joked, Tweek scowling over to his boyfriend as the other chuckled.

"Haha, Craig." He muttered, turning to the stairs and only pausing before climbing them to wait for the other, "Come on, we might as well make the most of it, even if mom did catch us almost red-handed."

"Red _faced_." Craig corrected, laughing again as he moved to followed Tweek up the stairs, the later whom had taken to simply ignoring him now. "Still, making the most of thing does sound like a pretty awesome idea" He trailed off moving a hand to grab a handful of blonde ass as they reached the top of the stairs causing Tweek to yelp before turning and glaring at him.

"That's not what I meant!" He snapped, his face turning red once again, "My mother is just downstairs, are you crazy?!" Craig simply shook his own head and manoeuvred the blonde to his room.

"No, but I am joking. You familiar with that process at all? It involves laughing, normally, and sometimes..." Tweek was getting very good at glaring scowls, Craig noticed, and stopped at that, moving to offer a light kiss on the cheek instead. "Guess you're not, huh?" Tweek sighed.

"God Craig, why do I put up with you?" He asked, letting himself flop down on the bed, Craig joining him and perching on the edge, a look completely dead-pan on his face.

"I'd show you exactly why, but your mom's downstairs..." At that, Tweek did laugh - it was quite funny really, he supposed, and as a result of whatever embarrassment he had already gone through, he did get to spend the day with Craig...

"Next time, alright?" He promised, pulling himself up and offering a kiss of his own this time – soft and gentle and very him. Craig only grinned.

"I'll hold you to that."


	9. Chapter eight

**Authors notes; **I'm baaaaack~! XD Yup! I bet you all thought I'd given up on this, huh? No way! I'm so sorry for keeping everyone waiting so long, I took a month off for NaNoWriMo (I won, btw! ^^) and now I'm back to the fanfics. I'm hoping to update more frequently now as well, so like… Look forward to that ^^

Firstly; I'm keeping to the surname I gave Craig when I started this for the sake of continuity – I KNOW it's Tucker, not Cramer, but it'll bug me to change it halfway through. Secondly; I am a little worried I may be out of practice after so long away… I hope not though. This chapter has been in my head for a while so it came out pretty easily, VERY sappy in places though but I wanted them to talk about the whole thing at some point and it's damn hard not to be sappy doing that! It's LONG too – opps? I hope it reads okay – Enjoy!

**Chapter eight;**

Ruby searched the so-called play ground for any signs of her brother, not expecting to find any, then headed straight for the main gate after what, in her mind, had been something done out of habit more than anything else.

Clyde had found her during lunch, him and Token had made their way over to the table she was sitting at with her friends and sat down as if it were an every day occurrence for Seniors to mix with Freshmen. The other girls at the table – there were five of them in all – went silent at the visitors, Ruby used to her brother two friends but being unable not to notice both her brother and his boyfriend were nowhere to be seen.

She wondered if they had even told them, yet…

Clyde had done all the talking, told her that her brother was an idiot and that he had decided in his not-so-infinite, infinite wisdom that school was not worth his time that day. He had skipped, in other words, dragging poor Tweek along for the hell of it and he had figured since the two of them walked home together normally, he should let her know. She had rolled her eyes and nodded, thanking him and trying to decide if this was a good turn of events or a bad one until Token had piped up and asked if everything was okay at home. That had taken the red-head by surprise somewhat, Clyde too going by the frown on his face but she had simply given the coloured teen an odd look and said that yes, everything was fine, speaking slowly as if to imply Token was crazy for having to ask and he simply nodded, face blank, before Clyde told him they needed to get going and that was that.

It was nice of Clyde to care, she supposed, but she knew Craig would come back to meet her anyway, he always did and he was nothing if not consistent.

_Stubbornly so, most of the time…_

Craig had good friends, she had known that for as long as she could remember, the four of them stuck together and looked out for each other and that was good because Craig needed people like that. The more the merrier, really, her brother was not exactly the easiest person to convince of anything at the best of times. Still, after Token's question at lunch, she had to wonder just how much he had told either of them…

"Craig!" She called, having indeed spotted her brother just outside the school gates, leaning up against the fencing and smoking a cigarette, looking up and over to her as she called his name and acknowledging her with nothing more than a nod as she ran to meet him. She did not think he had told any of his friends anything about 'how things were' at home. Maybe if they had asked he would have said something – Craig had a real problem with lying to his friends - but looking at him now, all confident and indifferent she did not think anyone would stop to think for a second there would be any need for any of them to ask such a question. _Yet Token had._ Asked her, at least. He pushed away from the fence when she came up to him and flicked his finished cigarette off into the snow.

"Good day?" He asked, hands finding the pockets of his coat and burying themselves deep into the warmth they found there as they began to walk although, not towards their own house, she noticed, the observation causing a slight smile to spread across her face.

"Not bad," she answered with a shrug, "It's school, you know?" Craig chuckled at that, she would get no argument from him on that matter. "How about you?" She asked, grinning now and not even trying to hide the fact, "Did _you_ have a good day?" Craig gave her a narrow-eyed look, trying to work out what she knew and how she knew it before answering. From his experiences dealing with the opposite sex he knew them to be rather tricky when it came to knowing things they probably should not.

"It was fine." He told her cautiously , not liking the look on her know-it-all little face at all. Craig Cramer feared very few things in life, but a telling off from his sister was among them – less for the actual fear value, and more so due to crazy fixation he had with her hating him or - God forbid! - being disappointed in something he had done.

"Clyde told me, he was worried I'd have to walk home alone." She informed him, making sure the smile remained because really, she was not mad – not if Craig was happy and he had dealt with what had happened earlier. She knew her brother cared about very few people and those who did 'make the grade' were cherished as much as she was, but that did not mean she was about to forget just how much of an idiot he could be sometimes. "You _did_ talk to Tweek, right?" She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly this time as she looked to her brother, who just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah." He said simply, obviously not wanting to talk about it and so she left it at that. She believed him, after all, and that was enough.

xox

_(Earlier that day)_

As promised, Mrs Tweak had bought the two truants up some snacks – a family sized bag of tortilla chips, two coffees and a packet of cookies – then left the two of them to play video games.

They had done this for a little while, talking about nothing that really seemed important, all the time Tweek wanting to ask the other about his bruises because Christ! They were together now, they were supposed to share stuff like that and as much as the blonde would concede to being able to do very little to stop Craig from getting hurt anymore – he knew his limitations all too well in that department – he still wanted to help. Thought maybe he was the only one who could since no-one else even knew how Craig acquired his so-called 'battle scars.'

That was a lot of pressure to deal with on its own, having a secret, but knowing that the only way he could really, REALLY help the other out was by breaking his trust when it had taken so long to gain was…

He shook his head, he did not want to think about it.

Maybe he should start talking about something completely unrelated and then steer the conversation round to it, somehow? Yes, that sounded like it could work, if only he knew how to even start to talk and what about and…

"Just say it." Craig spoke suddenly, causing the blonde to jump and Craig to crack a smile in amusement, it was not unusual to see such a reaction from Tweek, after all. "Seriously man, something's bothering you, so just out with it already." He added a lame sounding chuckle that was obviously fake to the end of that, whatever it was that Tweek was worrying over had been causing the air in the room to grow heavier by the second and Craig was not entirely sure he really wanted to know what a thing that had that sort of power would be…

"Your face!" He blurted out, slapping his hands over his mouth in a comical fashion as soon as he registered his own words, letting the controller he had been holding drop to the floor, its landing causing a second surprised sound. Craig thought he might have laughed under any other circumstances. "S-sorry, I mean, I g-guess you don't wanna t-talk about it, b-but I…" Craig's expression softened a little at the worry and nervousness of the other. Maybe Ruby was right – _damn her!_ – maybe he should come clean and talk about the whole sorry state of affairs that was his home life after all.

"It's okay Tweek," he told him, a resigned tone to his voice, tossing his own controller to the floor, "We can talk about it, if that's what you want." Tweek blinked at him, eyes narrowing briefly as if he were trying to work out just what had happened to the REAL Craig and who this impostor was. Craig did chuckle a little at that, he supposed it meant a lot for him to be able to read the other so well going by his track record of being terrible at just that normally. "It's fine, if something's bothering you and I can help, then I want to, no matter how much I might actually not want to." Tweek frowned.

"T-that doesn't make sense, Craig." He informed him, but then smiled ever so slightly himself, he understood the sentiment, at least. "I just, y-you know, w-wanted to make sure you were o-okay." He went on, eyes flitting around the room at random before returning to Craig's for a second or two then darting off again, "I don't s-suppose there's m-much I can do, but…" Craig found himself understanding completely, something he was neither used to doing nor sure of how to deal with. He studied the blonde for a moment, his eyes finally having settled on his own and that making it a little easier to try and work out what he was thinking, it was a good thing, he guessed. They were together now and certainly he did not want that to change for as long as he could help it. He did not think he had ever thought of his future without the twitchy blonde in it in some way or another and now they had crossed that line from friendship to this, he knew he had to try harder to not mess it up – the line was far harder to cross the other way around, so he had heard.

"Really, I'm fine," he began, this time he himself averting his eyes from the other's, "She was pissed that we weren't home when she got back yesterday, that's all." He paused for a moment, noted the look of absolute horror on Tweek's face and began to talk again, "And before you start, it was NOT your fault, alright?" He leaned forward to take Tweek's hands in his own and squeeze them tightly in his own, "It was fun hanging out, I'm glad you invited us." He smiled, "You gotta remember Tweekers, it's HER with the problem, alright? No-one else, just her and as soon as I'm out of school, I am taking Ruby and getting the hell out of there." Tweek saw a look of real anger cross his face as he talked about his mother, but he heard hurt in his voice and it was that which worried him far more. He squeezed his hands back and tried for his best smile.

"Just s-so long as you remember y-you're not in i-it alone anymore." He answered, his voice quiet and trembling a little because it was a pretty gay thing to say, no matter where their relationship stood, he would admit to that and Craig was hardly the sort of person you would normally say such to and…

"I'll remember," Craig replied, sounding less hurt now and even smiling, just a little, causing Tweek to blink again before nodding slowly, "Thanks man." They sat for a moment, still holding one another's hands, not saying anything until the blonde broke the silence, obviously not done just yet.

"So umm…" He began, before his eyes started to dart everywhere once again, "Does it hurt?" He asked, then instantly gave himself a mental reprimand – _what a stupid thing to say! _– Craig frowned over to him, he seemed troubled by all this talk but Tweek found he needed to know at least something, "J-Jesus, that was s-stupid to ask, 'm sorry, I-I just meant…" He trailed off there, he was not sure what he meant really, or rather, he did not know how to put the thoughts and worries into words at the very least.

"Do you really wanna talk about this?" The brunette asked, his tone a mix of bored and uncharacteristic nerves, sighing when Tweek nodded but continuing all the same, "Yeah. I mean, it hurts less every time, in a way, you sort of get used to it and the nerves get less…" He shrugged, "I dunno, but I don't really feel it when she kicks me in the side anymore." He watched Tweek carefully as he spoke, not going into as much detail as he could such as the time she had dragged him up the stairs and to his room quite literally by the hair, pulling out chucks of ebony locks and leaving patches which forced him to wear his by then already trademark hat until they grew back ensuring no-one really noticed or the incident during one of the few meals she had cooked for her children in the last eight or nine years which had turned out not to be so much cooked as barely thawed out and had earned a then eleven year old Craig quite a beating with a wooden spoon.

"Why though?" Tweek asked, his tone a dazed sort of wonder which told Craig he probably did not want an actual answer, more he was just thinking aloud and trying to comprehend what little he had let out, "I don't understand why or how…"

"Good." Craig cut him off, an adamant look on his face, "You shouldn't understand, it isn't normal, what she does, and if you did understand it'd be a hell of a lot worse." He smiled slightly and reached out a hand to caress the blonde's face – unmarked by human hands, "Your mom cares about you, I hope you never understand." He finished quietly before dropping his hand and moving to pick up the game controller instead. "Now lets finish our game, yeah? I'll have to go get Ruby before you know it." The blonde stared at the other for a moment, but Craig refused to meet his gaze and eventually, he relented and they went back to their game.

Craig had said all he was going to on the subject and Tweek supposed he should be glad he had said anything at all.

xox

_(Back to present)_

They walked on in silence, Ruby following her brother's lead which ended with them at Harbucks coffee shop, where she could see from the moment she walked in a messy haired blonde working the counter which Craig led them to, taking a seat and smiling an expression so pure to said blonde that Ruby almost awwed out loud. It was cute, she thought, but decided it was best not to say anything and instead busied herself with the hot chocolate Tweek offered her and what she saw as her job as a little sister – to sit back and listen.

It was not as dull as she would have thought either, and certainly she did not find this arguable violation on her brother's privacy – she was his younger sister, was this sort of thing not in the job description? – at all a bad idea, she knew just how dumb he could be, after all…

"Mom was asking questions the second you left," Tweek was saying, his eyes darting to the staff room on his left every now and again in case one of the other workers should come out and over hear what he was saying, "She knows, I KNOW she knows. I don't know how she knows or how I know she knows, really, but I do and she does and…" Craig held up his hand, looking confused and causing the blonde to stop and take what Ruby thought was his first breath since he had started to talk.

"Hold up Tweekers, you lost me." He admitted, "But if you're saying what I think you're saying and your mom isn't pissed or forbidding you to see me or whatever, then it really doesn't matter what she may or may not know or how she may or may not know it, you know?" Tweek blinked.

"Okay, now _you_ lost_ me_…"

"Christ!" Ruby snapped, grabbing both of their attentions in one move, "You two are dense!" They both blinked at her causing her to sigh. Really, how they had both managed to make it this far – granted that was not really far at all – was beyond her…"Women pick stuff like that up Tweek, it's no big deal, and you two aren't exactly subtle, skipping school and going to Tweek's place when you KNOW his mom's gonna be coming back there at some point?" She shook her head, "And if you even _think_ your mom knows and she's not acting weird, then she must not care who you're screwing so it's fine, you don't have to worry, yeah?" She sighed again, more loudly this time and mostly for affect, before turning back to her hot chocolate. "Guys…" She muttered to herself and spooned cream into her mouth to hide the fact that she was close to hysterics. Craig and Tweek turned to face each other again, the former with eyebrows raised and the later gaping.

"I guess she covered everything?" Craig half asked, obviously amused. Sure, he figured his sister was listening in on them, but to such a degree? No. He had gotten so used to dragging her around wherever he went that he had gotten used to just talking as if she was not there.

Tweek was still gaping.

"I'M NOT SCREWING ANYONE!" He practically shrieked, hearing his own words – along with the few people spread around the café who all turned to look at him for the outburst – before slamming his hands over his mouth and looking absolutely mortified considering how hard he had been trying not to be over heard before.

The Cramer siblings shared a look.

Then they laughed.

xox

Craig and Ruby hung around at the coffee shop until Tweek's shift finished at six, the former insisting he walk his boyfriend home while the later sang annoying songs at the pair of them which involved kissing and trees and finally Craig flipping her off and telling her to shut the hell up unless she wanted salad for dinner.

That worked so well, he made a mental note to remember it for next time.

Tweek was quiet all the way home, throwing side-ways glances to the taller teen as he argued with his sister in his normal, good natured way – that was how it normally was for her, at the very least – all the while trying not to let the fact that they would be going back _there_ soon ruin the walk. He had come to absolutely hate the idea, knowing more about the reality of the situation now and… _What could I do anyway_? He squeezed Craig's hand a little more tightly in his own at the thought, drawing the other's attention to him, a puzzled look on his face.

"Tweek?" He asked, his name forming all the questions he needed it to, the blonde who it belonged to forcing a nervous smile and shaking his head in an attempt to trick the other – and himself too, maybe a little – into thinking that it was nothing, that everything was just fine and… "What is it?" Craig persisted as they came up to Tweek's house, and this time Tweek was too busy trying to seem like he was fine to actually evade the question with any real believability. They came to a stop outside, Ruby walking a few steps on out of some form of duty to her brother, giving him some space for a change – leaving Tweek to look over to his house for a moment, knowing that soon he would have to say goodbye to them both and let them go 'home', something he had already admitted hating the very idea of, forget the actual act itself. He turned back and stared at Craig who continued to stare back looking as indifferent as he ever did, almost bored even, while he waited which only moved to make the blonde more nervous and…

"Don't go back to your place." He said, his tone coming out far more confident and almost as if it was not a question but a command;_ DON'T go back to your place. Stay here, stay with me, where it's safe… _Craig gave him an odd look that hit him as somewhere between surprised, worried and annoyed, but that did not stop him from going on because this was important. He believed that, was sure of it and for once he was going to stand up for something he believed in. "Just stay here, alright?" He tugged at Craig's coat with his free hand in the direction of the house, not with any real force but enough for the other to understand that he really wanted him to play along, to come inside and stay and be safe.

"Tweek…" The brunette began, that indifference so characteristic of him gone for now and replaced with a sad sort of concern for the other because he knew, as he thought Tweek had to somewhere at the back of his mind, that there was no quick fix to this situation, to _his_ situation, really. Beginning was as far as he got though before Tweek was talking again.

"No really Craig, it'll be fine! She won't mind, I know she won't! Please?" The blonde's words spilled over one another in their rush to get from his brain to his mouth and out before they could be over thought and Craig wondered if maybe Tweek did not know, that he really did think he could find a way to make everything better.

"But we've been through this before, man." Craig spoke softly, his tone kind and low as much to sooth his boyfriend's worries as to not be overheard by his sister, "It's great that your mom is so welcoming and I know you're worried but I have to go back some time." He tried a smile there, surprised at just how hard it was. It felt like a lie. A lie to his best friend and boyfriend and someone he cared more about than he was as of yet ready to admit, even to himself. He took the hand Tweek had been using to tug at his coat in his own free one and stroked both the hands he now held loosely in front of himself with his thumbs, God! He wanted to make this better, to make Tweek smile again… He seemed to be failing though, either that or Tweek was just far more determined than he had ever been in the other's presence before.

"No you don't!" The blonde insisted, insisted with such belief that Craig himself wondered for just a second if maybe he could be right. For his sins, he wished he was… "You can just stay here." That idea, only seeming to come to him as he spoke the words, ignited a light of hope so bright inside the blonde that it seemed to shine out through his coffee-coloured eyes, making them sparkle as he grinned, as much as Tweek ever did grin, anyway, "Yeah! Both of you can just stay here!" He looked up to the other, expectance of his approval written across his face, as if all Craig needed to say was '_okay, let's do it' _and everything would be fine…

"We both know I do, Tweek." Craig said, ignoring the later part of what he said, knowing even saying what he had would take that hope away, at least a little, but not wanting to right-out steal – simply not having the heart to – Tweek's smile falling from his face before he hung his head and Craig could almost hear himself saying he was wrong, that it was a joke and _of course we'll stay, retard! Hahaha!_ Just so Tweek would smile again because it hurt. He did not understand how or why something that did not touch you could hurt so deeply…

"Why though?" He muttered, looking up through masses of blonde hair after a moment, "I mean really why, if you don't have to?" Craig squeezed the hands he still held a little tighter for a moment, a hand version of a hug, he supposed. One of them had to live in reality after all, did they not? And reality had never been Tweek's favourite place to be.

"Because I do have to, you know that, I'm not going to burden myself or her on you and your family, okay? It's not going to happen." He tried again at mastering that smile and thought he managed now it was for truth, letting one of Tweek's hand's drop and reach for his chin, lifting his head more so he could see his face, "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the offer, I really do, but it wouldn't work and it wouldn't be fair." The smile seemed to falter when all Tweek did was gaze back at him and Craig knew that look; his eyes were beginning to swim with uncried tears just as he had seen them do a million times before.

"Craig…" He began but the addressed teen shook his head, he had no idea just how he was managing to not shout and scream here but he was glad of that new-found ability which accompanied the ever-present patience he had always found for Tweek. Again, he thought it meant more than he was willing to admit.

"No." He repeated softly, then sighed – obviously that was not enough, "Look, it's only for a few more months then we'll be out of there, I promise you that, but until then? Try not to worry about it, I have everything under control." It was crazy just how much he believed that – that he really did have all this under control – later on he would admit different, admit a great many things, but for now all thoughts were caused to cease at the look of real anger on Tweek's face.

"But you don't, Craig!" He shrieked, not in his normal, thin sounding voice but in a tone more of a low anger, "H-how can you?! It's not safe there and you tell me not to worry! You might not be here in a few months time, then what, huh?!" He paused there, all his anger seemingly spent on that rather brief, but effective – he thought – outburst, Craig looked suitably surprised, at least… He took in a deep, shaky breath, "Look just, p-please Craig…" But he got no further, Craig had recovered enough to but in, willing to at least meet the other half-way.

"Dinner." Was the single word he spoke, his expression back to mild indifference although Tweek recognized he had won a small battle, at the very least, "We'll stay for dinner, but then we have to go back." He added, then paused – what was on the tip of his tongue now was a cheap trick to pull on someone who was only trying to help, not matter how – in Craig's humble opinion – misguided and unneeded that help might be. But then it was true, he thought, and he was annoyed, good intentions or not… "You remember what happened last time we didn't come back 'til late, don't you?" The blonde paled at that and hung his head again, this time Craig made no move to correct the stance, an unfamiliar guilt beginning to creep through him… Dammit! Just how the small, fragile looking blonde had managed to change him so much he had no idea, he felt he could resent him for that and it scared him a little – he never wanted to hate Tweek Tweak.

"I…" He muttered once more from underneath that mop he called hair and again Craig relented, sighing and annoyed before speaking.

"It's fine, no sense in making trouble, that's all I'm saying." He explained, the best apology he thought he was likely to be able to manage but still eager for it to be known that he had not changed so much that he could not cope with just about anything, he would not allow that, full-stop. "I really do have it under control, Tweekers." He added, tone softening a little once more and again reaching to tilt Tweek's face up so he could look into his eyes, "I know you worry and I know I can't stop you but…" He smiled, those tears in the other's eyes were so close now he could almost feel them on the hand that held his face up, and he did appreciate them, _him_, everything he just… _I am not worth this._ "There's nothing we can do about it right now so please, try not to worry about it too much," he placed a quick kiss on the other's forehead, meaning to punctuate his words, "For me." Tweek watched him with a frown.

"For you is exactly why I worry…" He said, quietly again but far from a muttering anymore. Craig dropped the hand from the other's chin and shook his head – this was getting annoyingly repetitive now…

"Come on, Tweek, it's not…" He began, but that look was back on Tweek's face, that anger as those tears finally spilled over.

"Don't you DARE say it's not a big deal!" He almost bellowed this time, surprising Craig so much that he took an involuntary step back as the blonde pulled his hand out of the others', "How do you think it makes me feel, huh?" He asked, a real tone of hurt in his words as he glared at his boyfriend, "To say goodbye to you and watch you go back there without knowing if I'll see you again? Because you DON'T have it under control, Craig! You can't! You could be dead before the time school is over with – dead!" He closed the gap between himself and Craig as he finished, glaring up at the other, defiant and sure and still so hurt.

"Tweek, calm down, it's okay, it's…" Craig started, but again the blonde exploded, Craig finding only a split second to glance in the direction Ruby had gone off in, to confirm to himself that oh yes, she was hearing this, alright…

"And DON'T tell me to calm down, either!" He snapped, lifting a hand and jabbing the other in the chest with a finger, "It is not okay! You don't know what might happen and I…" And like that, the anger seemed to drain from the blonde completely, leaving him red-faced and small and just the same as he always had done. Craig thought he wanted to hang his head again and apologize and forget any of this had happened but he surprised him by standing his ground, looking the brunette straight in the eye, tears still rolling down his cheeks, and went on, "I-I love you, Craig. I don't want you getting hurt anymore." Those last words were again quiet and yet somehow, that only made them mean more and before Craig even knew he was planning on doing it, he had wrapped his arms around the other teen and pulled him close, placing a kiss a top his head and simply holding him like that while the other sobbed and caught up with what he had said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I just…" He trailed off, he did not know how to finish that sentence without sound like the arrogant asshole he knew he was, "I don't know man, I'm not used to all this shit, you know?" He smiled slightly, not at all surprised at the tears he could feel threatening his own eyes as he rocked the blonde slightly in his arms, "If it upsets you that much, I'll look into…" More uncertainty, what could he do? He was not about to offer up empty promises that was all he really knew, "Something. I don't know what, but I will, I promise you, okay?" Finally, Tweek moved against him, his arms snaking around Craig's waist, hugging him back, his head moving to nod against him before looking up to the other.

"Okay, I guess." He muttered, and Craig had never been happier to see him so unsure, it had been unnerving to see him as angry and certain as he had just been… "I'm s-sorry Craig, I just…" This time, it was Craig who cut Tweek off and with a light kiss on the lips.

"I know, it's fine." He assured him, then chuckled lightly, Tweek had said he loved him. Him. Craig Cramer. God! That was funny! And yet not really funny at all…"I love you too, you know." He admitted, a little amused at just how easy it was to admit, "And I mean it, we'll work something out." Tweek nodded again and offered a weak smile.

"Thank you." He said, moving one of his hands to wiped away his tears, before pausing, that uncertainty back in abundance now, "Really, you will…" Craig nodded.

"I said I would, didn't I?" He asked, a smile present to suggest he was not mad at the insinuation that he would break his promise, "Since when have I ever lied to you?" Tweek let out a burst of laughter at that, a million crazy memories coming to mind at once.

"How about that time you told me tooth paste was made from actual powdered teeth, for one?" He asked, smiling ever so slightly while Craig chuckled a little, "Never about anything serious, though, I guess." He admitted, "But!" Craig moved a hand and put a finger to the blonde's lip in a 'shhh' motion.

"No buts, Blondie – I'll sort something out and you stop worrying, okay?" That sounded like an order to Tweek, and he thought he had probably pushed things a little as it was, so he nodded instead, causing Craig to return the gesture before turning his thoughts back to his sister, "Ruby!" He called, "Come on, we're having dinner with the Tweaks, get your ass back here!" A quick shout of 'coming!' as she made her way over came to him, and Craig turned back to the blonde still in his arms, gifting him one more kiss before hugging him tightly and letting him go to take his hand instead, "Come on, we'll talk about it later, promise." Tweek smiled and nodded again, happy for now, to try and not worry as he had been asked to.

"Sure Craig." He answered, Ruby coming up to them and the three of them making their way up the path to the Tweak's door, Ruby and Craig bickering yet again about something he had missed but had to be important if the way they were going on was to be believed, but then again, was it not always that way with them? He let go of Craig's hand and let them into the house, holding back in a 'guests first' gesture while trying to collect his thoughts. He trusted Craig, he believed that if the other said he would do something, he would – at least for him. He smiled to himself. Craig loved him. That was pretty much all that mattered, right?

-----------------

**MORE A/N;** The first I love you XD I love the whole 'I'm ANGRY! So I'm gonna YELL IT the first time I say it' thing! :is hit: I'll go now…


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